Federal budget aids primary care

President Obama's $3.8 trillion 2011 fiscal year budget contains earmarks that will benefit primary care physicians, says the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

The budget includes $911 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, but only $81.3 billion for discretionary programs. The bulk of the department's budget is for mandatory Medicare and Medicaid expenses.

The budget requests $27 million for the National Health Service Corps, which could add 449 new physicians for rural and underserved communities, according to the AAFP. It also requests $290 million to create 25 community health centers, and $286 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for comparative effectiveness research.