February 2001 • Volume 7 Number 2
Congress boosts funds for key primary care programs
* Budgets in the millions of dollars for the Title VII cluster for primary care including family practice and dentistry, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Health Service Corps. More money. That's what Congress has given three programs related to primary care education and research -- bottom lines the Academy applauds.
Title VII funding for training in primary care and dentistry, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (which fosters primary care research), and the National Health Service Corps all won hefty increases in Congress' final budget legislation, passed Dec. 15 (see chart).
"It was hard for Congress, last year, to get anything done, but one thing it had to do was fund programs -- so the government wouldn't shut down," says Rosemarie Sweeney, AAFP vice president for socioeconomic affairs and policy analysis.
"Typically, it's easier to get increases in election years than in non-election years," says Sweeney. "There was an opportunity for the Academy to be pretty aggressive in pushing for funding." The strong lobbying by the AAFP and other primary care groups paid dividends expected to expand access to care.
The Title VII amount to be devoted to family practice training had not yet been announced at press time. Last year, close to two-thirds of the funds appropriated for the primary care and dentistry cluster were reserved for family practice.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2001 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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