Bob Barr: “since its creation in 1972, the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) has made a significant impact both in improving the…”

“since its creation in 1972, the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) has made a significant impact both in improving the distribution of health care providers (physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and dentists) in the underserved areas of our country and increasing primary care access for at-risk populations. The NHSC operates two programs to help meet the needs of underserved communities: the scholarship program and the loan repayment program. The scholarship program provides funds to students for educational living expenses during health care practitioner training. The loan repayment program provides financial assistance to help newly graduated practitioners repay their educational loans. For each year of NHSC scholarship or loan repayment support, participants are obligated to provide one year of medical care in underserved communities. Noteworthy research comparing the effectiveness of the NHSC scholarship and loan repayment programs was conducted by The Cecil G. Sheps Center at UNC Chapel Hill, NC and Mathematica Policy Research-- ``Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the National Health Service Corps'' HRSA Contract No. 240-95-0038, May 31, 2000. This research confirmed that only 20.7 percent of NHSC scholarship recipients stayed at least one month beyond their service obligation, compared to 57.2 percent of NHSC loan repayment recipients.”