The National Health Service Corps, which provides financial, professional and educational resources to healthcare providers who practice in areas of the country with limited access to care, received $283 million in investments in fiscal year 2014 because of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The NHSC, part of HHS, provides loan repayment and scholarship awards to clinicians and students and also gives grants to 38 states to support state loan repayment programs. Since 2008, the number of providers in the Corps has more than doubled, and grants to states have increased nearly 50 percent. Currently, more than 9,200 NHSC clinicians provide care to about 9.7 million people in the U.S.
"Primary care clinicians are the backbone of our health system, and thanks to the Affordable Care Act, programs like the National Health Service Corps increase the primary care workforce in medically underserved urban, rural and Tribal communities," said HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, PhD, RN. "In fiscal year 2014, we provided more than 5,100 loan repayment and scholarship awards to clinicians and students, and grants to 38 states to support state loan repayment programs."