US primary health care can be cheaper and more equal – here’s how
“The Covid-19 pandemic has cast the disparity between the haves and the have-nots in a harsh light.”
Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips highlights the essential need for primary care to be universal, noting that studies have shown that primary care-oriented health care systems are associated with lower mortality rates and fewer heart diseases and deaths.
“Universal access to preventive care should be a right, not a privilege. If the US were to adopt universal primary care under a "capitated" model -- in which primary care doctors are paid fixed sums per patient -- a single, monthly fee would cover everything from annual physicals to skin checks, immunizations, pelvic exams, blood tests, and evaluation for and treatment of chronic diseases and other illnesses.”