ACT483: Ensuring Primary Care Sustainability
Why spend more on primary care?
- Primary care saves lives, improves population health and enables thriving, healthy communities.
- Primary care accounts for 35% of all health care visits annually, but receives only 4 to 6% of total health care spending.
- Investing more in preventive, long-term care delivered across the lifespan improves patient health and reduces health system costs.
Why do Arkansas communities need this?
- Arkansas has repeatedly been ranked the 48th healthiest state out of 50 states.
- The Arkansas primary care workforce is diminishing, with demand exceeding supply.
- Health care access and quality are declining in Arkansas, especially in areas of highest need.
What will ACT483 Do?
Convene primary care clinicians, health plans, and other partners
Define primary care, including services and providers, for measurement
Measure and report current primary care spending in Arkansas
Determine a target for future primary care spending
You Can Get Involved!
Watch the Webinar
Click below to download a presentation with more information about SB264.
Contact Your Legislator
Use the link below to find your Legislator and ask them to support SB264.
Send an Email, Social Media Post or Make a Call:
We’ve put together templates you can customize and send.
Why Does Primary Care Need Support?
- Primary care is fundamental to the health of Arkansas communities – it saves lives, improves population health and enables thriving, healthy communities.
- Investing in primary care also saves us money – primary care is the only part of the health system proven to reduce costs, while also extending lives, increasing access to care and improving community health.
- Primary care accounts for 35% of all annual health care visits, but receives only 4-6% of total health care spending.
- Without needed investment, primary care practices in our state are struggling to keep their doors open and continue serving patients, facing financial hardship and workforce shortages.
- Arkansas communities are feeling those effects, with the state repeatedly being ranked the 48th healthiest out of 50 states and access to and quality of care consistently declining.
- Directing more funding towards primary care means that clinics can hire additional staff, provide more services and spend more time with their patients, resulting in Arkansas patients living longer, healthier lives.
What will this bill do?
ACT483 will establish the Arkansas Primary Care Payment Improvement Working Group, convening primary care clinicians, health plans and other statewide partners to collaborate, specifically to:
- Define primary care, including services and providers, for measurement;
- Measure and report current primary care spending in Arkansas; and
- Determine a target for future investment.
This bill is the result of a multi-year collaboration between statewide partners and will create a sustainable path forward to ensure our investments in the Arkansas health system go where they matter most: our patients.