By NextBestFitHealth professional shortage areas
About 75 million people live in primary-care shortage areas, and about 137 million in mental-health shortage areas.
Evidence
- 7,501 primary-care HPSAs covering 75.0M people (47% of need met), June 2024.Sources: HRSA (2024)
- About 137M people live in a mental health HPSA (December 2025).Sources: HRSA (2025)
Who's affected
- Rural residents: Clinician shortages limit primary and mental health care access.
- Low- and middle-income households: Clinician shortages limit primary and mental health care access.
- Residents of areas with too few health professionals: Clinician shortages limit primary and mental health care access.
None identified.
Under your mix of paths
- Clinicians cluster where pay and amenities are highest
- Training located in cities
Related costs
Open questions
- Should training be tied to service in shortage areas?
- Should pay be higher in shortage areas?
Caused or worsened by these paths
This problem only matters if one of these paths is chosen.
Moratoriums on new providers in high-fraud categories can reduce access to care.
Nursing homes have difficulty hiring to meet staffing minimums in shortage areas.
Solution paths (3)
Open a path for what it fixes, what it creates or worsens, who gains and who loses, precedents, and how it connects to other paths. See all paths as a decision tree.
Expand the National Health Service Corps: free training in exchange for years of service in shortage areas.
- +Health professional shortage areas
- +Medical education debt shapes specialty choice
- −Solves only part of the problem
- −Raises spending or loosens control over it
Add a bonus to fees in shortage areas.
- +Health professional shortage areas
- −Solves only part of the problem
- −Directs benefits or burdens imperfectly
Cover telehealth at parity across state lines with a national license for telehealth.
- +Health professional shortage areas
- +Mental health care is hard to get
- −Solves only part of the problem
- −Fraud and improper payments
Also addressed by paths for other problems
Allowing professions to use their full training adds care capacity quickly at lower cost.