AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS

The Primary Care Crisis Paradox: MedPAC Data Challenges Prevailing Narrative on U.S. Healthcare Reform

- MedPAC data show nearly all Medicare beneficiaries have a primary care provider, with over 75% able to see their PCP within two weeks, challenging the narrative of a primary care access crisis. - U.S. life expectancy gaps with peer nations are driven primarily by external causes—drugs, alcohol, suicide, homicide, and traffic accidents—rather than inadequate primary care access. - The budget-neutral Medicare physician fee schedule creates a zero-sum competition between primary care and specialty care, where declining specialist access metrics have received far less attention. - Physician leaders from the AAFP, ACP, and AAP argue that primary care and specialty care are complementary, not competing, and call for comprehensive payment reform that strengthens both.