[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17050]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                              PRIMARY CARE

  (Ms. SCHWARTZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SCHWARTZ. I rise today to address the importance of primary care 
and comprehensive health care reform. As we move towards creating a 
uniquely American solution in which all Americans have access to 
affordable, meaningful, stable health coverage, we must remember that 
insurance alone means little if patients do not have adequate access to 
health care providers and services.
  Primary care providers are on the front line of the health care 
system treating acute and chronic problems, preventing diseases, and 
keeping costly conditions from worsening. And yet, despite this 
essential role, it is primary care where we face the most acute 
provider shortages.
  Fewer and fewer medical students are choosing primary care. Since 
1998, the percentage of internal medicine residents declined from 50 
percent to 20 percent. By 2025, America will have a shortage of 46,000 
primary care providers.
  I have introduced the Preserving Patient Access to Primary Care Act. 
My proposal takes a comprehensive approach to addressing this problem, 
bolstering our primary care workforce and improving primary care 
services, providing scholarships and loan repayments, increasing 
payments for doctors, and eliminating copayments for Medicare 
beneficiaries seeking preventative care.
  I encourage all these provisions to be included in health care 
reform.

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