Washington, D.C. (March 24, 2026) — The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC), which advocates for better health and wellbeing for all Americans by strengthening primary care, is enhancing its leadership by welcoming Shawn Gremminger, President and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, to its Board of Directors.  

The National Alliance is the only national nonprofit coalition focused on aligning purchasers to advocate for reforms that improve quality care and drive value in the health system.  

 “Employers and purchasers play a vital role in shaping health care in the United States, and we’ve been grateful to have the National Alliance as a member and partner in the effort to strengthen primary care,” said Ann Greiner, President and CEO of the Primary Care Collaborative. “Shawn’s new role will enhance the broad set of perspectives already on the PCC’s Board.”  

Gremminger, as President and CEO of the National Alliance, represents public and private sectors, nonprofits and labor unions that provide health benefits to more than 90 million Americans — more than half of the employer-sponsored insurance market — spending over $850 billion annually. 

“Employers understand that a strong primary care workforce must be the foundation of a high performing healthcare system,” said Gremminger. “Without good access to high-quality primary care, employers will continue to pay for overpriced, low-value, uncoordinated, episodic care – an expensive death spiral that fails to serve America’s working families.” 

“We are thrilled to have Shawn join our Board,” said Sean Hogan, Chair of the PCC Board of Directors. “He brings demonstrated expertise and passion for advocating for primary care we’re grateful for National Alliance’s support as we advance the important voice of employers who are seeking better access, affordability and health outcomes for their employees.” 

Washington, D.C. (January 20, 2026) – Ann Greiner, President and CEO of the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC), has issued the following statement in response to the proposed bipartisan appropriations and health package:

“We’re grateful that Congress has come together to draft bipartisan legislation that protects access to primary care, especially for those in underserved and rural communities. By strengthening community health centers, making bold investments in the Teaching Health Center GME program, increasing incentives for alternative payment model participation and protecting access to virtual care, this bill will ensure millions of Americans still receive the care they need and deserve.

“But while it’s critical that Congress acts quickly to address these issues, much more must be done in the coming months to ensure Americans’ access to high-quality, whole-person primary care. Skyrocketing premium and deductible costs, extended wait times and a dwindling workforce remain major hurdles to primary care access for far too many Americans.

“The PCC and our members stand ready to work with lawmakers on pragmatic, substantive solutions, such as the recommendations for reform of Medicare payment we recently shared with the GOP Doctors Caucus and Congressional Doctors Caucus.”

Washington, D.C. (January 6, 2026) – The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) President and CEO Ann Greiner has issued the following statement:

“Vaccinations are a proven, essential form of prevention, a critical component of primary care and a cornerstone of America’s public health system. Decades of research have proven they are safe and effective—and the science has not changed.

“Unfortunately, new policies will create confusion and misunderstanding around vaccines. This confusion will lead to delays in access to immunization and eat into the vital time patients have with clinicians—time that is already limited in our broken fee-for-service model.

“The PCC urges policymakers to reverse course and follow established scientific and medical consensus on vaccines—ensuring access to lifesaving immunizations and protecting families’ time with clinicians.”

Washington, D.C. (December 18, 2025) – Decades of evidence have shown that whole-person primary care leads to better care and improved health for patients. A new report from Harvard Medical School’s Center for Primary Care provides data and expert insights on the most effective advanced primary care features along with implementation guidance.

The Primary Care Investment Guide is a first-of-its-kind publication detailing how policymakers, employers, provider organizations, practices and insurers can holistically assess, plan and prioritize investments in team-based advanced primary care services.

“Investing in advanced primary care works and is required to strengthen primary care so we can improve the nation’s health,” said Amie A. Pollack, Co-Investigator of the project and Director of Research at the Harvard Center for Primary Care. “When more investment supports the frontline team, patients have more time with their clinicians and are able to get more of their issues addressed during a visit and through other expanded services. And clinicians experience less burnout and more joy in practice.  We hope that primary care stakeholders will find this Guide useful as they put policies in place to derive more value from their health care spend.”

“Every decision-maker who wants to shift our health care system to health and away from more expensive services will benefit from this guide,” said Ann Greiner, President and CEO of the Primary Care Collaborative, who served as an advisor, convener and distributor of the report. “The findings are grounded in real-world interviews, surveys and literature reviews, as well as case examples of successful advanced primary care implementation. This study makes the case that policies to support patients and policies to support the primary care team are inseparable.”

The Guide provides examples from provider organizations, practices, and payers on how the following six team-based services can improve health outcomes, reduce costs, enhance patient experience, support workforce wellbeing and/or improve health equity:

• Behavioral Health Integration, including the Primary Care Behavioral Health and the Collaborative Care models for practice-based management of behavioral health conditions
• Embedded Clinical Pharmacists to optimize medication management and chronic disease management
• Care Management for patients with complex medical or social needs
• Population Health Programs that use data to close care gaps and proactively manage chronic disease
• Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) identification and management, including systematic screening and community health worker support to link patients to community-based resources
• E-Consults, enabling rapid, specialist input and reducing avoidable referrals

“When we invest in primary care, we invest in the health of our families, communities, and society,” said Anna Flattau, System Chief for Primary Care at Jefferson Health. “This guide outlines how to strategically allocate our resources to achieve tangible improvements in healthcare outcomes. By providing clarity and direction, the guide offers a map to meaningful and sustainable change.”

Read the full Investment Guide here and the Executive Summary here. The PCC is also holding a webinar on December 18 breaking down the report.

Better Outcomes Spur Coming Changes

The Guide arrives as federal and state policymakers increasingly recognize the importance of investing more in primary care. At least five states (California, Colorado, Delaware, Oregon and Rhode Island) have legislated higher primary care spending, with others moving toward similar targets.

Underlying the Guide are data that show higher numbers of primary care clinicians are consistently linked with longer life expectancy, lower mortality and improved health outcomes.

Yet U.S. primary care is under strain: The U.S. spends only 4.6% of the health care dollar on primary care. Nearly 98 million people live in primary care shortage areas, more than 16,000 additional physicians are needed and patients, especially those from low-income and marginalized communities, struggle to access timely care. Black and Hispanic populations experience higher rates of poor health and shorter life expectancy, with the pandemic further widening disparities.

This publication was produced with funding from the California Health Care Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund.

Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care

Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care believes the future of our health system will be built upon a strong foundation of primary care that is designed to meet the needs of both patients and primary care teams. https://primarycare.hms.harvard.edu/

Washington, D.C. (December 15, 2025) – The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) and 49 national and state organizations are urging Congressional leaders to protect the efficiency adjustment put in place by the 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS).

“For decades, the PFS has consistently undervalued primary care, behavioral health and other time-based services relative to many other services,” the organizations noted in a letter to leaders from both parties in the House and Senate. “This rule does not solve every problem in the PFS, but this provision helps move the system toward greater support for primary care.”

The letter features signatures from leading primary care champion organizations such as the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, Blue Shield of California, Families USA, Mental Health America, the National Association of Community Health Centers, the National Alliance of Health Care Purchaser Organizations and Village MD.

“Today, more and more Americans struggle to access the type of high-quality, whole-person primary care we know leads to better health,” said PCC President and CEO Ann Greiner, following the release of the letter. “The 2026 MPFS is an essential step forward toward improving access for millions who can’t get needed care due to Medicare’s chronic underinvestment in primary care. Congress should reject calls to undo that progress.”

A full list of signers and the letter can be found here.

Washington, D.C. (December 11, 2025) – The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) offered initial support for the ELEVATE model, a new initiative from the CMS Innovation Center. The model would award grants—open to primary care practices, health centers and others—to test evidence-based whole-person care interventions, with a focus on nutrition and exercise.

The model, which provides $100 million for up to 30 different grants, will help build a stronger evidence base for whole-person approaches to primary care. Interventions that prove successful may help advance the  evidence-based prevention goals identified in the Innovation Center’s Strategy.

“For decades, the American health system has prioritized incenting services rather than incenting health,” said Ann Greiner, President and CEO of the PCC. “This announcement reflects a growing awareness that our current approach doesn’t work. We’re grateful that the Innovation Center is committed to a model that prioritizes capturing data for evidence-based interventions that support prevention, health promotion and chronic care management to shift our system to more holistic care.”

The PCC is an advocate for holistic approaches to care, launching an initiative focused on whole-person care in 2023 with support from the Ardmore Institute of Health and the Healing Works Foundation.

That initiative has led to greater awareness of whole health approaches and has helped shaped PCC policy recommendations for how to better support whole-person primary care, including covering health and wellness coaching and improving payment for existing nutrition and lifestyle services in Medicare.

Washington, D.C. (November 12, 2025) – A new report from the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) released today finds that even as clinician shortages persist, rural practices manage a wider range of patient needs than urban practices, including chronic disease and behavioral health while providing or referring patients to community based services.

The PCC’s 2025 Evidence Report, Closing the Distance in Rural Primary Care: Evidence, Stories and Solutions, delves into the growing risks facing rural primary care in America and how policymakers can act now to sustain it.

The PCC report — completed in partnership with the AAFP Graham Center and with support from the ABFM Foundation — reveals that, despite growth in nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician associates (PAs), rural areas still have roughly 15% fewer primary care clinicians per capita. The loss of just one rural family physician can increase health spending by more than $1,300 per patient each year, or $5,200 for a family of four.

“Rural primary care clinicians are doing more with less as they strive to deliver whole-person care in the face of workforce shortages, policy uncertainty and financial strain,” said Ann Greiner, President and CEO of the PCC. “This report demonstrates that strengthening rural primary care can improve health — and keep communities alive economically and socially.”

These pressures come as federal policy changes enacted by H.R. 1 threaten to widen geographic disparities, reducing Medicaid coverage for up to 10 million Americans and cutting nearly $1 trillion in funding over the next decade. Although the bill included a new $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), that investment will not offset the projected losses.

With state RHTP proposals now submitted, PCC’s report calls for the Administration to select proposals that strengthen primary care as the central foundation for rural health.

Case studies from across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Virginia and Idaho illustrate how community-driven innovation can preserve access and rebuild trust.

• In Texas, Waco Family Medicine sustains access for 75,000 patients through integrated behavioral health and pharmacy services, supported by the 340B program.
• In Oklahoma, Reliant Direct Primary Care restores clinician autonomy through subscription-based care that strengthens relationships and accountability.
• In New Mexico, Cross Arrow Medical keeps an entire county healthy–providing comprehensive care in the face of looming Medicaid cuts—led by two nurse practitioners.
• In Virginia’s Smyth County, local hospitals and schools are partnering to train nurses and recruit physicians through community-based pathways.
• And in Idaho, Full Circle Health’s teaching health center is building the next generation of rural clinicians through integrated residency training and strong partnerships with local hospitals.

The findings of Closing the Distance in Rural Primary Care show that consistent investment in primary care yields both better outcomes and lower costs. With the passage of H.R. 1 and its sweeping Medicaid changes, PCC implores states to implement responses to these policy changes plans that strengthen comprehensive primary care. Such actions will be critical to protect patient access and affordability.

The PCC urges policymakers to strengthen rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers, implement hybrid payment models, reauthorize and expand the Teaching Health Center and National Health Service Corps programs and provide stronger oversight to ensure new federal rural health funding truly reaches rural communities.

The 2025 Evidence Report underscores that primary care is a necessary infrastructure for survival of rural communities. The full report and executive summary are available here.

About the AAFP Robert Graham Center

The AAFP’s Robert Graham Center aims to improve individual and population healthcare delivery through the generation or synthesis of evidence that brings a family medicine and primary care perspective to health policy deliberations from the local to international levels. The information and opinions contained in research from the AAFP’s Robert Graham Center do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Learn more: graham-center.org

About the ABFM Foundation

The ABFM Foundation advances the mission of ABFM through activities focused on education, training, and research for the family medicine specialty. Recent initiatives include the identification and evaluation of quality metrics that capture the contributions of family medicine; support for Family Medicine for America’s Health; establishment of a fellowship for international family physician educators to study best practices in family medicine education; development and assessment of the Preparing the Personal Physician for Practice and Length of Training initiatives; creation of a national collaborative to improve medical student onboarding and engagement of family medicine preceptors; the Strengthening Outcomes and Assessments in Residencies (SOAR) initiative in partnership with the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors; support for the Advancing Innovation in Residency Education (AIRE) initiative of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; and various leadership development initiatives. Since July 1, 2018, the ABFM Foundation has also housed the Center for Professionalism & Value in Health Care.

The finalized 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule enacts policy changes to improve prevention, primary care for seniors and disabled Americans.

Washington, D.C. (October 31, 2025) – The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) is grateful to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for finalizing reforms that provide primary care teams more stability and resources to deliver the high-quality, whole-person primary care Americans deserve.

“For decades, Medicare has undervalued primary care and prevention—putting unfair pressure on clinicians and shortchanging seniors,” said PCC President and CEO Ann Greiner. “By finalizing these proposals, CMS takes an important step to address methods that have long diverted funding away from the whole-person, relationship-based primary care Americans need. And we look forward to partnering with CMS to go further in strengthening primary care through payment reforms in the years ahead.”

CMS finalized several proposals that, properly implemented, could bolster primary care and prevention, including:

• Building on the Advanced Primary Care Management (APCM) services, with new add-on payment to promote behavioral health integration in advanced primary care;
• Rebalancing payment for cognitive-reliant services vs. procedures though an “efficiency adjustment” and a new focus on empirical analysis of clinician time;
• Changing practice expense reimbursement — shifting resources from facility-to independent, community-based practices;
• Making improvements to the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program – a key first step toward broader support for whole person health.

While the rule only affects the Medicare program, Greiner noted that it could have an outsized impact on payment policy more broadly.

“As the nation’s largest payer, Medicare’s payment priorities influence the payment policies of every other health care payer,” said Greiner. “We look to other payers to step up and properly value primary care. ”

While the rule is an important step toward fixing our broken health system, policymakers in the Administration and Congress still have a lot of work to do. PCC calls upon policymakers to extend and refine valuation reforms to further re-balance payment towards primary care, provide relief for beneficiaries from cost-sharing for preventive care and ensure hometown primary care practices have a future beyond fee-for-service.

Washington, D.C. (October 15, 2025) – Ann Greiner, President and CEO of the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) has issued the following statement on the continuing government shutdown:

“On October 1, funding for critical primary care programs and telehealth waivers lapsed—and today CMS has announced it will be holding Medicare physician fee schedule claims. While Congress works to bridge divides on government funding, the consequences for everyday Americans’ health are substantial and growing.

“This impasse has created unnecessary, additional burdens for American families and the primary care teams on which they rely. We urge lawmakers to pass a bipartisan bill that reopens the government, restores funding for vital primary care services and protects access to affordable coverage.”

Washington, D.C. (September 12, 2025) – In a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Primary Care Collaborative and its Better Health — NOW (BHN) campaign expressed appreciation for several MPFS modernization proposals that “strengthen whole-person primary care.”

The PCC—a nonprofit, nonpartisan multi-stakeholder coalition of 70 member organizations committed to improving the health of the nation by strengthening primary care—and its BHN partners believe the proposal is an important step in fixing Medicare’s flawed payment program, which vastly undervalues primary care.

“For decades, Medicare’s fee-for-service approach to payment has undervalued time-intensive, relationship-based services such as primary and behavioral care,” said PCC President and CEO Ann Greiner. “CMS’s 2026 proposals are an important step toward reversing that harmful trend.”

Greiner adds that research shows primary care, when supported and valued, can also result in better health outcomes.

In particular, the PCC and its BHN partners encouraged CMS to:

• implement efficiency adjustments that more accurately value primary care
• eliminate cost-sharing for Advanced Primary Care Management (APCM) in APCM services
• finalize coverage and payment for add-on Behavioral Health Integration codes
• establish primary care capitation broadly in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP)
• and shift payment policies to support whole-person primary care, including motivational interviewing, health & well-being coaching

At the same time, PCC urged the agency not to finalize a proposal that would eliminate additional payment that supports screening for unmet needs and upstream drivers of health.

CMS is expected to issue its final regulation early in November, with many provisions likely to go into effect in 2026.