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US Primary Care Doctor Push Fails to Deliver
22 Jun
Summary
- Federal efforts to increase primary care doctors have yielded minimal results.
- New residency positions primarily benefited radiology and psychiatry, not primary care.
- A goal to allocate residency positions to rural areas was not met by programs.
Federal legislation enacted in 2021 and 2023 to bolster the U.S. physician workforce has not effectively expanded primary care residency positions.
The study revealed that primary care's share of 1,000 new Medicare-funded residency slots decreased over time. While overall primary care positions grew by only 2%, specialties like interventional radiology and psychiatry saw increases of 16% and 13% respectively.
These legislative efforts also failed to achieve their goal of directing more doctors to underserved rural areas. Between 2023 and 2025, new residency positions, including those funded by the 2021 and 2023 laws, did not consistently reach rural locations.
Analysis showed a significant decline in primary care positions, dropping from 32% in the first round of funding under the 2021 law to just 3% by the fourth round. Rural area allocations also decreased, with only 1% of positions from the 2023 law going to rural regions.
Researchers suggest that strengthening requirements for primary care and rural medicine training is necessary to ensure that an increased physician pipeline translates into improved healthcare access where it is most needed.
