On March 7, the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) and its Better Health – NOW campaign partners submitted a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr, urging him to place whole-person primary care at the center of his strategy to improve Americans’ health. The letter highlights America’s chronic disease epidemic and outlines a strong primary care system as the key to addressing the growing crisis.
The PCC and its BHN partners recommend a four-pronged policy approach aimed at improving the Medicare system and improving the health of Americans. The PCC and its BHN partners urge Secretary Kennedy to:
- Promote transparency through tracking and publishing primary care spending, payment mechanisms and chronic disease outcomes across Medicare
- Transform traditional Medicare’s primary care payment – offering hybrid payment model options to better support whole-person primary care and removing financial barriers to primary care
- Support behavioral health integration into primary care to equip primary care to address mental health and addiction
- Value primary care appropriately