Online Hill Briefing – The Stakes for Primary Care

PBGH, along with the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Partnership to Empower Physician-Led Care , held an online Hill Briefing on Thursday, April 30. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected nearly 1 million people in the United States, killed tens of thousands and is having an unprecedented negative effect on the country’s economy. It has also strained primary care providers to near the breaking point. Nearly half of independent primary care practices report that they are in danger of closing in the coming months due to a collapse in revenue.  Primary care practice closures threaten patients’ access to health care during this pandemic and afterward.  Policymakers and payers must take action to preserve and strengthen primary care now and for the future.

We heard from frontline physicians and national policy experts on: 

• The impact on the pandemic on primary care practices and patient access 
• The potential long-term impact of the collapse of the primary care system 
• How employers and other payers are responding to the crisis
• Policy recommendations  

Speakers at the briefing included:  

• Congressman Joe Courtney, Connecticut 
• Congressman David Rouzer, North Carolina 
• Elizabeth Mitchell, President and CEO, PBGH, San Francisco, CA 
• R. Shawn Martin, Senior Vice President – Advocacy, Practice Advancement and Policy, AAFP, Washington, DC 
• Rebecca Etz, PhD, co-Director of the Green Center and lead researcher for the COVID-19 Primary Care Survey 
• Beverly Jordan, MD, Family Physician at Professional Medical Associates, Enterprise, AL 
• Guy Culpepper, MD, Family Physician at Bent Tree Family Physicians, Dallas, TX 
• Tabitha Childers, Clinic Administrator at Autumn Road Family Practice, Little Rock, AR