CHARTER
Purpose
The Secretary
is charged under Title VII of the Public Health Service Act with responsibility
for taking national leadership in the development of programs addressed
to graduate medical education and in the research, development, and
analysis of programs that impact on the health manpower needs of this
Nation. Part E of Title VII establishes this Council, and charges
it with assessing physician workforce needs on a long term basis,
recommending appropriate Federal and private sector efforts necessary
to address these needs, and providing a forum to enable appropriate
consideration of these needs.
Authority
The Council is
governed by the provisions of Public Law 92-463, as amended, 5 U.S.C.
Appendix 2, which sets forth the standards for the formation and use
of advisory committees. The Council, originally authorized in 1986
for ten years, has successively been extended through various legislative
enactments. The "Health Professions Education Partnerships Act
of 1998," redesignated the authority for the Council as Section
762 (42 U.S. Code 294o), of the Public Health Service Act. Most recently,
Section 219 of the Departments of Health and Human Services, and Education,
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006, Public Law 109-149,
provided for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, that "Notwithstanding
any other provisions of law, funds made available in this Act may
be used to continue operating the Council on Graduate Medical Education
established by section 301 of Public Law 102-408."
Functions
The Council on
Graduate Medical Education shall provide advice and make policy recommendations
to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate, and the Committee on
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, with respect
to: (A) the supply, and distribution of physicians in the United
States; (B) current and future shortages or excesses of physicians
in medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties; (C) issues
relating to foreign medical school graduates; (D) appropriate Federal
policies with respect to the matters specified in subparagraphs (A),
(B), and (C), including policies concerning changes in the financing
of undergraduate and graduate medical education programs and changes
in the types of medical education training in graduate medical education
programs; (E) appropriate efforts to be carried out by hospitals,
schools of medicine, schools of osteopathic medicine, and accrediting
bodies with respect to the matters specified in subparagraphs (A),
(B), and (C), including efforts for changes in undergraduate and graduate
medical education programs; (F) deficiencies in, and needs for improvements
in, existing data bases concerning the supply and distribution of,
and postgraduate training programs for, physicians in the United States
and steps that should be taken to eliminate those deficiencies; and
(G) encouraging entities providing graduate medical education to conduct
activities to voluntarily achieve the recommendations of the Council
under (E).
In order to carry
out the provisions of Section 762 of the Public Health Service Act,
the Council is authorized to (A) collect such information, hold such
hearings, and sit and act at such times and places, either as a whole
or by subcommittee, and request the attendance and testimony of such
witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence,
memoranda, papers, and documents as the Council or such subcommittee
may consider available; and (B) request the cooperation and assistance
of Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities, and such
departments, agencies, and instrumentalities are authorized to provide
such cooperation and assistance.
The Council shall
coordinate its activities with the activities of the Secretary under
Section 792 of the Public Health Service Act. The Secretary shall,
in cooperation with the Council and pursuant to the recommendations
of the Council, take such steps as are practicable to eliminate deficiencies
in the data base established under such Section 792 and shall make
available in its reports such comprehensive data sets as are developed
pursuant to this Section.
Structure
The Council shall
be composed of 17 members: (1) the Assistant Secretary for Health
or the designee of the Assistant Secretary; (2) the Administrator
of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly the Health
Care Financing Administration); (3) the Chief Medical Director of
the Department of Veterans Affairs; (4) six members appointed by the
Secretary to include representatives of practicing primary care physicians,
national and specialty physician organizations, foreign medical graduates,
and medical student and house staff associations; (5) four members
appointed by the Secretary to include representatives of schools of
medicine, osteopathy medicine and public and private teaching hospitals;
and (6) four members appointed by the Secretary to include representatives
of health insurers, business, and labor.
Members of the
Council appointed under (4), (5) and (6) above shall be appointed
for a term of four years. Members of the Council may serve up to120
days after the expiration of their term until their successors have
taken office.
The Council shall
elect one of its members as Chair and one of its members as Vice Chair
of the Council. Nine members of the Council shall constitute a quorum,
but a lesser number may hold hearings. Any vacancy in the Council
shall not affect its power to function.
Management and
support services shall be provided by program staff of the Division
of Medicine and Dentistry, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources
and Services Administration.
Meetings shall
be held at least once a year at the call of the Chair and with advance
approval of a Government official who shall also approve the agenda.
A Government official shall be present at all meetings.
Meetings shall
be open to the public, except as determined otherwise by the Secretary
or other official to whom the authority has been delegated. Timely
notice of all meetings shall be published in the Federal Register,
and given to the public. Meetings shall be conducted, and records
of the proceedings kept, as required by applicable laws and departmental
regulations.
Compensation
Each member of
the Council who is not a full-time employee of the United States Government
shall receive compensation at a rate equal to the daily rate prescribed
for GS-18 under the General Schedule under Section 5332 of Title 5,
United States Code, for each day, including traveltime, such member
is engaged in the actual performance of duties as a member of the
Council. A member of the Council who is a full-time officer or employee
of the United States Government shall serve without additional compensation.
All members of the Council shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence,
and other necessary expenses incurred by them in the performance of
their duties.
Annual
Cost Estimate
Estimated annual
cost for operating the Council, including compensation and travel
expenses for members but excluding staff support, is $136,509. Estimated
direct staff support required is 1.5 FTE, at an estimated annual cost
of $217,228.
Reports
The Council periodically
shall prepare and transmit a report, to the Secretary and to the Committee
on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate, and the Committee
on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, with respect
to (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), and/or (G) under Functions above.
In these reports, the Council shall specify its activities during
the period for which the report is made.
In the event a
meeting or a portion of a meeting is closed to the public, and detailed
minutes are not to be made available in their entirety to the public,
the advisory committee must prepare and make available to the public
within fourteen days of the close of the meeting a summary of its
activities and related matters which are informative to the public
consistent with policy of 5 U.S.C. 552b. Notice of the availability
of such a summary shall be incorporated in the notice of the meeting
published in the Federal Register. A report shall be prepared which
shall contain at a minimum, a list of members and their business addresses,
the committee's functions, dates and places of meetings, and a summary
of committee activities and recommendations made during the fiscal
year. A copy of the report shall be provided to the Department Committee
Management Officer.
Termination
Date
The Council’s
duration is not governed by Section 14(a) of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act but is otherwise provided for by law. This charter
will expire on September 30, 2008, subject to availability of appropriations
for 2007.
APPROVED:
Date
Caroline Lewis
Acting Associate Administrator for Administration and Financial Management
Return to About COGME
