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Ann Greiner, who heads the Primary Care Collaborative, which advocates for primary care policy reform, said funding is one of the biggest challenges facing the system.
Greiner said expanding the program nationwide would require buy-in from federal and state lawmakers, health care providers and insurance companies.
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Washington, D.C. (September 30, 2026) — The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC), which advocates for better health and wellbeing for all Americans by strengthening primary care, has deepened its health policy expertise with the addition of Katie Comando as Senior Campaign Director and Dr. Sarah G. Candler as the PCC Richard Baron Fellow.
ABOUT KATIE COMANDO
Comando will focus on building visibility and awareness of the PCC’s work to unify and engage diverse stakeholders in promoting policies and sharing best practices that encourage the growth of comprehensive, whole-person primary care.
Comando said, “I’m excited to be part of an organization that has helped advance policies that are essential for better health and wellbeing. I’m eager to work with the PCC’s Better Health NOW partners to expand the knowledge that access to high-quality primary care can improve health and overtime reduce downstream expensive services.”
Comando’s career has spanned many areas of federal policy, including the Domestic Policy Council’s Health and Veterans Team as well as the Health Division of the Office of Management and Budget during the Biden and Trump Administrations. She has additional experience with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, as well as the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
ABOUT DR. SARAH CANDLER
Candler will team with PCC staff to contribute to the organization’s strategy and policy work, including the PCC’s efforts to educate policymakers about the important role primary care plays in improving health.
Candler remarked, “Throughout my career, I’ve worked to recenter the American health care system on the patient-physician relationship through payment reforms, public transparency and team-based care. Through this exciting new role with the PCC, I look forward to reaching closer to this ever-important goal.”
Candler is an internal medicine physician specializing in primary care for high-risk older adults. She has dedicated both her practice and her leadership work to improving access to high quality, equitable and affordable primary care for all Americans.
Ann Greiner, President and CEO of the PCC, noted, “We’re at an important crossroads for advancing the promise of primary care, and both Katie and Sarah’s wealth of experience and knowledge will be critical to helping our team and stakeholders succeed in this exciting environment.”
In a statement for the record for the House Energy and Commerce’s Health Subcommittee hearing, the PCC and our Better Health NOW Campaign have expressed our support for the bipartisan Patients First Act.
This bill seeks to modernize Medicare physician payment, strengthen patient access to care, and provide greater stability and flexibility for primary care practices. We believe these reforms are important steps toward a Medicare payment system that better recognizes the value of primary care, care coordination, prevention, behavioral health integration and other high-value services that patients need.
Read our statement focusing on the hybrid primary care payment model detailed in section 102 of HR 9693, articulating its importance to the nation’s health and offering specific recommendations to strengthen the bill
as it moves through the legislative process.
Health systems want to invest in AI, but Medicaid cuts are undermining their budgets.
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Health inequalities remain one of the most stubborn problems facing modern medicine, and primary care sits at the front line of the battle.
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Nationwide, the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates a shortage of between 13,500 and 86,000 physicians by 2036.
Efforts to close that gap, however, are underway in Greenbelt, thanks in large part to funding included in the state’s budget.
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Louisiana already ranks 50th among the states in overall health. Now the state is preparing for major changes to Medicaid that are expected to reduce enrollment and federal spending compared with what would have occurred under previous law.
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Gov. JB Pritzker has signed two measures aimed at protecting the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program and strengthening access to affordable medications and health care for patients served by community health centers across Illinois.
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On July 31, the PCC and its Better Health NOW Campaign submitted formal comments on the Interim Final Rule implementing Medicaid Community Engagement requirements, calling on CMS to “withdraw and reissue the IFR in a manner that is more consistent with Medicaid’s statutory aim and requirements.”
Read our letter below.
The United States faces a potential crisis, as an aging population meets head-on with a shortage of primary care physicians, especially in rural and underserved areas.
On July 27th, this free webinar with researchers and policy experts assesed the factors contributing to U.S. primary care workforce shortages and policy approaches to ensure adequate access to care across communities.
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