PROVIDENCE — The political scandal that surrounded Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island during the last several years may soon benefit thousands of Rhode Islanders who need medical help the most.

Neil Steinberg, president and chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Foundation, announced at a news conference yesterday morning that the $20-million settlement Blue Cross paid last year to avoid political corruption charges will help finance a key part of the state’s health-care system — the doctors, nurses, dentists and others providing the routine medical exams and initial visits designed to prevent illness or send patients to medical specialists.

The bad news was that the value of the settlement that the foundation received last year has declined from $20 million to $15 million because of the nosediving stock market, Steinberg said.

But the good news is that the remaining investments will generate at least $800,000 annually that the foundation will distribute every year in perpetuity for doctors and clinics providing primary care.

Each year, about a quarter of the money will be used to help solve another challenge to primary care, the dearth of young doctors choosing to enter the field, because it is one of the more poorly compensated specialties in medicine. Steinberg said only about 2 percent of medical school graduates choose primary care.

To address the shortage of trained primary-care workers, about one-quarter of the fund’s annual proceeds will anchor a first-in-Rhode Island program to cover school loans for doctors and other medical practitioners specializing in primary care.

The foundation had no details of the new program. But Steinberg said he is familiar with similar programs in Massachusetts and Ohio.

Joining Steinberg at the news conference were U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente, who negotiated the settlement with Blue Cross, and Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts.

Blue Cross agreed to the settlement a year ago, following a four-year federal investigation into its financial ties with three State House lawmakers.

John Celona, a former Senate Corporations Committee chairman, benefited from a $75,000 Blue Cross payment to a communications company for a cable television show he hosted. Some $13,565 went to Celona.

Gerald Martineau, former House majority leader, received $175,000 from Blue Cross for 10 million paper bags, even though his company delivered only 2 million.

William V. Irons, former Senate president, received more than $400,000 in commissions on a Blue Cross policy insuring CVS drugstore employees in Rhode Island.

Blue Cross signed a 22-page agreement acknowledging that its business executives were aware of the relationships with legislators while they were lobbying lawmakers on health-care legislation.

The company agreed to the financial settlement, dismissed four executives and promised to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney as the investigation continued. Corrente said the company has completely fulfilled its pledges in the last year.

The agreement called for the Rhode Island Foundation to manage the settlement money and use it to improve the quality and affordability of health care in Rhode Island.

Steinberg said the foundation hired a consultant and interviewed medical authorities across the state before deciding to focus its new program, the Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island, on improving primary care.

Some 75 percent of the available money will be dispersed in response to competitive grant applications from entities providing primary-care services. The grants could be multi-year and would probably range from $50,000 to $250,000. The first grants will probably be distributed this spring.

The foundation will focus on three areas: developing new ways to make primary care more accessible for working families, providing new ways to provide affordable medications, and creating new outreach programs to encourage preventative health care.

The remaining 25 percent will finance the loan-forgiveness program for primary health-care providers. Steinberg said the foundation hopes to increase the number of new primary-care practitioners by 125 over three years.

The foundation yesterday also announced that to show its commitment it was immediately granting $100,000 from its own funds to four local primary-care providers: Coastal Medical, the Rhode Island Free Clinic, The Molar Express and the Rhode Island Health Center Association.

Corrente elaborated on creation of the fund. He said some wanted the Blue Cross money to go directly to ratepayers or taxpayers.

But both proposals would have created more controversy about the fairness of who gets how much, he said, and would have been expensive to manage.

He said there also was a proposal to use the settlement money to cover uninsured health claims, but he said that would have wiped out the funds “in short order.”

“Here, we decided we could do the most good for the most people,” Corrente said. “And we hope this is celebrated 50 years from now.”

Roberts said she was pleased that the money is going toward the part of the health-care system that’s most under pressure.

“Staying healthy — it’s a cliché, but it’s true — is the best way we can improve our public health-care system,” Roberts said.

plord@projo.com