S4582-119

In Committee

Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act of 2026

119th Congress Introduced May 20, 2026

Summary

What This Bill Does

The bill provides findings Congress finds the following: According to the Bureau of Health Workforce, the United States faces a shortage of physicians, provides study on designation of general surgical health professional shortage areas Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C, and provides designation of general surgery shortage areas. It relies on appropriations, reporting requirements, definition changes, and compliance mandates. The main policy areas are Education, Agriculture, Healthcare, and Housing.

Who Benefits and How

Patients and health care consumers affected by the bill could face lower compliance burdens, Environmental and public health interests affected by the bill could face lower compliance burdens, and Educational institutions and students affected by the bill could face lower compliance burdens.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Federal, state, or local agencies responsible for implementing the clause would take on compliance duties, Transportation operators and users affected by the bill would take on compliance duties, and Patients and health care consumers affected by the bill would take on compliance duties.

Key Provisions

  • Provides findings Congress finds the following: According to the Bureau of Health Workforce, the United States faces a shortage of physicians.
  • Provides study on designation of general surgical health professional shortage areas Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
  • Provides designation of general surgery shortage areas.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

The bill provides findings Congress finds the following: According to the Bureau of Health Workforce, the United States faces a shortage of physicians, provides study on designation of general surgical health professional shortage areas Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C, and provides designation of general surgery shortage areas.

Key Policy Areas

Education, Agriculture, Healthcare, Housing

Primary Purpose

The bill provides findings Congress finds the following: According to the Bureau of Health Workforce, the United States faces a shortage of physicians, provides study on designation of general surgical health professional shortage areas Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C, and provides designation of general surgery shortage areas.

Policy Domains

Education Agriculture Healthcare Housing

Whole bill

Identified Gains
  • Patients and health care consumers affected by the bill
  • Environmental and public health interests affected by the bill
  • Educational institutions and students affected by the bill
  • Agricultural producers and rural communities affected by the bill
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Patients and health care consumers affected by the bill:
Educational institutions and students affected by the bill:
Environmental and public health interests affected by the bill:
Agricultural producers and rural communities affected by the bill:
Identified Costs
  • Federal, state, or local agencies responsible for implementing the clause
  • Transportation operators and users affected by the bill
  • Patients and health care consumers affected by the bill
  • Homeowners, tenants, or housing market participants affected by the bill
  • Agricultural producers and rural communities affected by the bill
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Patients and health care consumers affected by the bill: ,
Transportation operators and users affected by the bill: ,
Agricultural producers and rural communities affected by the bill: ,
Homeowners, tenants, or housing market participants affected by the bill: ,
Federal, state, or local agencies responsible for implementing the clause: , ,

Legislative Progress

In Committee
Introduced Committee Passed
May 20, 2026

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, …

May 20, 2026

Introduced in Senate

May 20, 2026

Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Barrasso, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Marshall, …

Impact analysis is available but no clear stakeholder effects identified. View clause-level analysis →

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Education Agriculture Healthcare Housing

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology