If Not Universal Care, How About Universal Primary Care?

Posted by Sarah Rubenstein in the Wall Street Journal Health Blog

As the lights dim on the presidential campaign and the financial crisis drags on, the prospects for universal health care in the U.S. seem to be dimming too. But what about narrowing our expectations to universal primary care?

In a comment published online by the Lancet today, four physicians with the American Academy of Family Physicians argue that more attention should be paid to the dwindling ranks of primary-care docs. They write:

Our system is riddled with unconscionable disparities–geographical, socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial–in health care and health status, which could all be mitigated by consistent access to a medical home. A medical home is a health-care setting that facilitates partnerships between individual patients and their physicians. So, what we really need in this country is universal access to primary care.

They suggest some steps to bolster physicians’ interest in primary care: changing payment for primary-care services to make the field more attractive; getting medical students more interested in “generalist” approaches; and supporting training programs for primary care.