Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act of 2026

Identify areas lacking general surgeons

If enacted, the bill would add a new HRSA process to find U.S. areas that are underserved by general surgeons. The Secretary would be required to study access and report to Congress not later than 1 year after enactment. The study would test a method that builds surgery service areas using hospitals with surgery services and Medicare patient ZIP Code data, counts active general surgeons, computes surgeon-to-population ratios, and sets thresholds called optimal, adequate, shortage, and critical shortage while considering wait times, health outcomes, travel time, critical access hospitals, and patient experience. After the report, the Secretary could adopt a methodology through notice-and-comment rulemaking, designate shortage areas, publish and update a descriptive list annually, consult stakeholders, and publish regular Federal Register data comparing need and availability.