Primary Care Is in Trouble

Most patients rely on primary care doctors for nearly all of their healthcare needs—managing chronic conditions, catching serious illnesses early, and referrals to specialists like cardiologists and oncologists.

Primary Care Physician shortages are impacting care delivery

Here’s the problem: the very professionals we count on, primary care physicians (PCPs), are in critically short supply in many communities, and policies promoted by both political parties are largely to blame. Despite bipartisan talk about strengthening primary care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been reducing PCP compensation, while increasing patient loads and uncompensated administrative time. Predictably, early PCP retirements are on the rise, while fewer young doctors are specializing in primary care.

The result? Severe shortages across the country, particularly in inner cities and rural areas like Colorado’s Mountain and Eastern Plains communities. While cities in the Northern Front Range like Fort Collins and Loveland still meet national benchmarks for PCP access, too many others are falling behind.

You can help protect primary care:

Contact your congressional representatives and urge them to:

·         Push for higher compensation and better working conditions for PCPs.

·         Demand that CMS stop compensation cuts and support the foundational role of primary care.

·         Support new policies that focus on growing primary care services, especially in underserved communities.

Your voice matters. When CMS sets payment and service standards, the entire insurance and healthcare industries follow. If we want to protect and improve healthcare, then we must protect the physicians at its core.

I’ll be sharing more soon about the growing crisis in emergency medicine. Stay tuned—because sooner or later, we are all likely to land and in an emergency room.