Obama's hospital funding cuts seen worsening primary care doctor shortage

A plan to reduce federal funding for teaching hospitals in President Barack Obama's fiscal 2013 budget proposal will curb training for primary care doctors, undermining a top priority of the 2010 healthcare law he fought to enact, a Bloomberg Government study shows. The proposed cuts, if enacted, will cause hospitals to adjust the mix of residency slots to focus on specialty positions that are the most profitable, according to the study by Bloomberg Government healthcare analyst Brian Rye. That will steer medical students to specialties that can pay twice as much as primary care, according to medical school executives.