Massachusetts Citizens

Talking Points

• Free Primary Care without copays or deductibles will be a complete gamechanger for me and my family. I will stop avoiding care due to the expense and I will lean on the relationship I have with my PCP to stay healthy.
   

• There are not enough Primary Care clinicians. It is almost impossible to find a new Primary Care. Even if I have a PCP, it takes me months to get an appointment with them and they are often not accessible to me when I get sick which causes me to either not seek care when I need it or go to an urgent care or ER where I do not have a relationship with the clinician.
   

• Health care is too expensive for me/my family/my business. I cannot afford my care. As a result of high deductibles, I hesitate to seek care due to the expense.
   

• Access to mental health care is very challenging and the idea of having mental health care in my Primary Care office, collaborating with my PCP is very appealing.
   

• We spend about 7.5% of every healthcare dollar in MA on Primary Care while every other developed country is in the 15% range and has better health outcomes than we do in the US.
   

• According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) 2021 Report, Primary Care is the only aspect of healthcare that both improves health and equity.
   

• Our specialist physicians are very busy and often are not able to offer timely access to patients. A big reason for this is that Primary Care is in such short supply, that it does not have the bandwidth to do its job and as a result, issues that do not belong at a specialist office end up there. This is more expensive for the overall system and decreases access to our specialists, ERs, and hospitals, for when we really need them.
   

• The bottom line is we must get more money into primary care - we need more doctors and providers in general to deliver primary care, and we have to do it with increased urgency.
   

• Over one-third of the primary care workforce in Massachusetts is over the age of 60, with more and more doctors leaving the field. That should tell you two things: that doctors are frustrated with an ineffective system and that the challenges of getting a PCP for you and your family are about to get even worse.
   

• Massachusetts should join other states who are leading the way to require greater Primary Care investment. Delaware, Rhode Island and Oregon have all begun requiring that at least 10% of total medical expense is spent on primary care. 
   

• Every resident of Massachusetts deserves equitable access to high-quality primary care. By making primary care a priority, we will ensure that a preventive, affordable, and patient-centered approach is the foundation of our healthcare system, creating a viable and functional blueprint for the rest of the country.
   

• This legislation would double the percentage the state spends on primary care in three years, from 6-8 percent to 12-15 percent, shifting the way the state administers and pays for primary care.
   

• PC4You is supported by nine large Massachusetts organizations including the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), UMASS Memorial Health, Health Care For All (HCFA), the Mass Academy of Family Physicians (MassAFP), the MA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (MC-AAP), the Massachusetts Chapter, American College of Physicians (MA ACP), the Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners (MCNP), the Massachusetts Association of Physician Assistants (MAPA), and the MA Association for Mental Health (MAMH)