Proposed UC Merced med school funding uncertain

Published online on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009

WASHINGTON -- A health-care reform bill could mean millions of dollars for the University of California at Merced's proposed medical school. But the university isn't promised a dime.

Serious hurdles remain before UC Merced, or any medical school, would see the funds authorized in the massive health-care bill approved by the House on Saturday. For university officials and San Joaquin Valley lawmakers alike, this will be more a marathon than a sprint.

"There are no guarantees," Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, said Tuesday. Cardoza and Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, have been longtime proponents of a UC Merced medical school.

Both fought to get medical school funding included in the health-care bill, and both cited the medical school provision as an important reason they supported the controversial legislation.

"The Valley is one of the fastest-growing regions in the state and deserves the same access to high-quality health care and a supporting medical school as found elsewhere in California," UC Merced Chancellor Steve Kang said in a statement Tuesday.

The medical school provision does not identify any school by name. Neither does it ensure the delivery of money. It is an authorization of $100 million a year for the next five years. The money won't arrive, though, unless Congress in each year appropriates the funds.

The bill offers funding to developing medical schools in federally designated "health professional shortage areas." Numerous portions of Merced County have received this designation, but so have more than 6,000 other regions nationwide.

This means potential competition. Educators at the University of California at Riverside, for instance, already are building a new medical school, slated to accept its first students in fall 2012.

Nationwide, nine developing medical schools are in the process of obtaining accreditation, according to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. The list does not include programs such as UC Riverside's that have yet to begin classroom operations.

The House medical school language will matter only if it is included in the final bill signed by President Barack Obama.

The Senate will next take up its version of health-care reform. If the Senate passes a bill, House and Senate negotiators will start haggling over differences between the two bills.

"We've received assurances from the [House] speaker and the White House that they understand this is an imperative," Cardoza said.

Because it potentially offers assistance to many regions, the medical school funding might attract general congressional support. On the other hand, fiscal hawks could oppose it as too costly for a bill whose price tag already approaches $1 trillion.