Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act of 2026

This bill would add a section to the Public Health Service Act about areas that do not have enough general surgeons. It would require the Health Resources and Services Administration to study whether current shortage designations accurately measure access to general surgeons and to consider other ways to identify shortage areas, including one based on hospital surgery service areas and surgeon-to-population ratios. The study report would be due to Congress within 1 year of enactment, and the agency would periodically publish data on general surgery availability and need. Based on the report, the Secretary of Health and Human Services could set up, through public rulemaking, a method for designating general surgery shortage areas, which would then be reviewed each year.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Brian Schatz Democrat sponsor
• 4 cosponsors