President Barack Obama will ask Congress to approve spending more than $5 billion on medical training to turn out some 13,000 primary-care providers over the next 10 years.
Obama will include the proposal in the budget he sends to Congress next week. The new funding is aimed at training more doctors who can work in underserved areas, including rural communities.
The president's budget also will seek to expand the National Health Service Corps, a federal program that connects primary-care physicians with communities in need. Obama wants to expand the corps from 8,900 providers to 15,000 over the next six years.
Obama's health law has sparked concerns about a shortage of primary care physicians as more Americans gain insurance coverage.
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