The Path to Coordinated Federal Leadership to Strengthen Primary Health Care

As the nation struggles to find a new equilibrium in health care services delivery and financing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it faces four foundational and interconnected population health challenges: a growing recognition of the toll of health inequities on vulnerable populations, pandemic recovery and future resilience, a resurgent opioid epidemic, and a growing mental health crisis, especially for children and teens.

Investment in primary care, which the 2021 National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care named a common good, will help the US address each of these challenges. But aligning federal levers will be necessary.