# 119-hr-8943: Our Doctors First Act of 2026

119-hr-8943, Our Doctors First Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Steube, W. Gregory [R-FL-17] (R-FL); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-06-26).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8943
- As of: 2026-06-26
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-8943
- Congress: 119
- Title: Our Doctors First Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-05-20
- Sponsor: Rep. Steube, W. Gregory [R-FL-17] (R-FL)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-06-26

## Summary

**Stops Medicare payments for graduate medical education for residents who are not U.S. citizens or nationals.** This bill would set citizenship or nationality as the rule for who counts as an intern or resident for Medicare GME payments and create a stepped penalty regime for hospitals and nonhospital providers that knowingly claim payments for non‑citizen residents. - Hospitals and other providers would lose Medicare GME payments for residents who are not U.S. citizens or nationals. They would face escalating sanctions, starting with a 25% forfeiture of the payment amount and a $1,000,000 civil penalty for repeat violations. - Non‑citizen and non‑national medical residents would not be counted for purposes of Medicare GME payments, so Medicare would not pay GME costs attributable to those individuals. - The rule would apply across the three Medicare GME channels: direct hospital GME payments, indirect medical education costs, and direct payments to nonhospital providers. It would take effect for cost reporting periods beginning 1 year after enactment, with the indirect‑cost counting tied to discharges on or after the first July 1 following that year.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Medicare stops payments for noncitizen residents: cost, high. This bill would bar Medicare payments for graduate medical education costs tied to residents who are not U.S. citizens or nationals. The ban would start for hospital and nonhospital direct GME cost reporting periods that begin one year after enactment. The bill would also bar counting non-citizen r…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-2570: Maximum Pressure Act
- 119-hr-9109: Stop ANTIFA Act of 2026
- 119-hr-687: MERIT Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9298: Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-8943 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8943)

## Related
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-2570: Maximum Pressure Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2570)
- [119-hr-9109: Stop ANTIFA Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9109)
- [119-hr-687: MERIT Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-687)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [119-hr-9298: Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9298)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8943 (as of 2026-06-26).