Resources for Policy Makers

The American Academy of Family Physicians looks forward to working with the new Administration and the 117th Congress to ensure all Americans have access to high-quality health care.

Learn more about our advocacy efforts »

Primary care— and particularly family medicine— is foundational to continued progress in reforming the health care system. The complexity of care provided by family physicians is unparalleled in medicine; Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care shows that patients who have several health concerns seek the care of their family physician over subspecialists.

The AAFP’s policies call for continued progress toward health care for all, supported by a payment system that rewards value over volume of services, promotes prevention and wellness, protects patients from financial barriers to needed services, and contributes to a primary care physician workforce to meet the growing demand for care. Family physicians urge the federal government to make these issues a priority as we reform and improve America’s health care system.

Please use the map and its zoom functions to select a state (Hawaii and Alaska included) to view its family medicine statistics and link to each AAFP State Chapter's website.

Health Care for All

Pursue policies that improve employer-based programs and the Health Insurance Marketplaces.
Increase access to health care coverage for low-income individuals and families through expansion of the Medicaid program in all 50 states.
Advocate for the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Health Care Affordability

Ensure that patients do not face financial obstacles to securing primary and preventive care.
Improve access to pharmaceutical and biologic treatments by reducing individual’s financial burden in obtaining these treatments.
Advocate for data democratization whereby health care quality and cost data are readily available to patients and their primary care physicians.

Delivery & Payment Reform

Promote payment policies that value family medicine and primary care.
Ensure that the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) is implemented in a manner that facilitates success among all family physicians.
Reduce administrative burden by improving EMRs and eliminating needless documentation and program requirements.

Primary Care Workforce

Establish a national workforce strategy that promotes primary care as fundamental to the health of individualsand populations; as well as a high-functioning and efficient health care system.
Reform the nation's graduate medical education system to place greater emphasis on training the workforce of the future.
Build on the successful Teaching Health Center program by expanding the program to a greater number of communities.

Prevention & Wellness

Promote health equity by advancing the value of incorporating social determinants of health in all health care delivery systems.
Collaborate with the public health community to promote prevention and wellness programs.
Improve access to vaccines for family medicine practices, reform the vaccine supply chain, and create payment policies that appropriately promote the delivery of vaccines, as appropriate, to all patients.

Join the Congressional Primary Care Caucus

The Congressional Primary Care Caucus is dedicated to advancing public policy that promotes and preserves a well-trained, high-quality primary care workforce and delivery system as the foundation of our nation’s health care system.

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