– Federal legislation under Section 126 the Consolidation Appropriation Act, 2021 authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to distribute additional residency positions (also known as slots) for physician training. RuralGME.org, the FORHP-supported organization that helps hospitals plan and develop rural residencies, has published an analysis of CMS released data on the 109 hospitals that received residency slots via the third round of Section 126 distributions on November 21, 2024. This analysis builds on FORHP’s previous examination of first and second round awardees and uses newly released CMS data to identify the rural status of the training sites of the selected residency programs. The application period for the next round of Medicare-funded slots opened the first week of January and runs through March 31, 2025. Eligible hospitals must use MEARIS, CMS’s online application system to apply for 200 newly available Section 126 slots and the 200 Section 4122 slots. The application period for Medicare-funded slots opened the first week of January and runs through March 31, 2025.
