HHS gives $240 million to bolster primary care; supports scholarships, services
$39.3 million given to the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program for students pursuing primary care training.
More than $240 million is being pumped into the National Health Service Corps and NURSE Corps scholarship and loan repayment programs as incentive for primary care clinicians to practice where they are needed most, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced Wednesday.
The money includes about $176 million from the Affordable Care Act, as the funding will help 17.6 million newly insured gain access to primary care services, Burwell said.
"The most critical step in connecting people to quality health care is a primary care provider," Burwell said.
[Also: CMS' Comprehensive Primary Care initiative announces participating payers]
The awards directly support primary care clinicians and students, in exchange for their service in underserved communities.
The awards are:
$39.3 million to the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program for students pursuing primary care training leading to a degree in medicine, dentistry, or a degree as a nurse-midwife, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner;
$125.9 million to the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program to fully train primary care clinicians;
$11.2 million to the National Health Service Corps Students to Service Loan Repayment Program to provides loan repayment assistance to allopathic and osteopathic medical students in their last year of school in return for completing a primary care residency in rural and urban areas of need.
[Also: CMS nurse training program aimed at bolstering primary care]
$23.2 million to the NURSE Corps Scholarship Program to nursing students in exchange for a commitment to work at least two years in a facility with critical shortages;
$39.6 million to the NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program offering assistance to nurses in exchange for a commitment to serve at least two years at a healthcare facility with a critical shortage of nurses, or serve as nurse faculty at an accredited school of nursing;
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$1.1 million to the Faculty Loan Repayment Program for health profession educators in exchange for serving as a faculty member in an accredited and eligible health professions school;
$799,000 to the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program for Native Hawaiian healthcare professionals to deliver primary health services to Native Hawaiians in that state.
The announcement coincides with the celebration of National Health Service Corps Community Month. There are 9,600 NHSC primary care clinicians – more than double the number in 2008 - who provide care to millions of medically underserved people, according to Burwell.
Over 2,000 NURSE Corps nurses are also working in communities to improve access to care.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
