Program for rural docs has more than doubled under Obama

The number of people receiving healthcare through a program that puts doctors in underserved areas has more than doubled since President Obama took office, the Health and Human Services Department said Thursday.

The National Health Service Corps offers both scholarships and a loan repayment program to doctors who agree to practice in communities — mostly rural areas — that don’t have enough doctors to meet their needs.

One in five Americans lives in an underserved area, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.

There are now more than 10,000 clinicians in the corps, compared with just 3,600 in 2008, HHS said. The program served roughly 3.7 million people when Obama took office and serves about 10.5 million now. Funding for the expansion came mostly from the stimulus and the healthcare reform law.

Just this year, HHS has awarded 247 scholarships and more than 5,400 loan repayment awards. The scholarships may medical students’ tuition in exchange for serving two to four years in an underserved area; the other awards help graduates pay down their medical-school debt in exchange for two years of service.

Sebelius said the program is especially attractive to medical students who want to practice in rural areas but can’t justify that decision after graduating with steep student loans. Many young doctors who receive the awards stay in the communities they served.

“They make a commitment that lasts a lot longer than their loan repayments,” Sebelius said.

The awards are targeted particularly to primary care. Inadequate access to primary care leads to breakdowns in prevention and poor management of long-term illnesses, HHS said.

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