January 15, 2025

Increased Investment in Primary Care is Necessary to Build a Healthier New York

PCDC responds to NYS Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2025 State of the State Address

PCDC, along with health experts across the country and the world, believes that primary care must be the foundation of the health system and that supporting primary care leads to better health outcomes, reduced health disparities, and overall better affordability for patients and the state.

Governor Hochul articulated her goal of improving the health of all New Yorkers and included in her 2025 State of the State a few specific initiatives that may help address health inequities and improve access to care in New York.

PCDC appreciates the Governor’s focus on improving the data the state collects about a range of important health care concerns, from understanding the ownership of health facilities to improving the state’s health care infrastructure as approved in last year’s Medicaid 1115 waiver. PCDC also supports the maternal health programs mentioned in the State of the State.

However, PCDC is disheartened that Governor Hochul did not highlight the critical role of primary care in achieving her health goals and did not identify any significant policies to improve access to or the provision of primary care. While in the United States, primary care accounts for approximately 35% of all health care visits each year, only about 5 to 7% of all health care expenditures are for primary care services. New York must make a commitment to invest more in primary care going forward.

We applaud the Governor’s emphasis on behavioral health.  Primary care providers play an outsized role in providing behavioral health care, as most people suffering from mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety, are diagnosed and treated in a primary care setting. We are concerned that the next budget will not include additional resources to build capacity among primary care providers to do even more to address behavioral health.

Since the pandemic, the primary care workforce has been in crisis, with more than 4.7 million New Yorkers living in federally designated primary care shortage areas and overburdened and burnt-out primary care providers leaving the field at an alarming rate.  PCDC encourages New York to adopt policies that will encourage providers to enter and stay in primary care, including more medical and nursing training that focuses on primary care, as well as other incentives for newly graduated and current primary care practitioners to work in underserved fields and communities.  We were pleased to see primary care providers  were included in the Governor’s proposed Student Loan Repayment Program, which can help encourage medical students to work in primary care, especially in communities where many residents rely on Medicaid.

The Governor plans additional health infrastructure funding including very important new primary care access points for New Yorkers with disabilities and capital for reproductive health care.  PCDC urges both the Governor and the legislature to ensure that in any capital funding pool for health care infrastructure, at least 12% is set aside for primary care.

A healthy New York starts with primary care. PCDC hopes to see more emphasis on primary care in the Executive Budget proposal and looks forward to working with the Governor and New York lawmakers to ensure that the budget process includes more investment to sustain and improve New Yorkers’ access to primary care.