Rep. Matt Longjohn, MD, (D-Portage) and legislative partners held a press conference on Aug. 26 announcing the Primary Care Transformation Package. The bipartisan eight-bill package is designed to increase investments in primary care, expand access and build the Michigan healthcare workforce. MAFP has been actively engaged throughout the development of the bill package. The policies respond and provide solutions to persistent gaps in primary care access across Michigan, with shortages spanning 75 of the state’s 83 counties and nearly one in three Michiganders lacking regular access to primary care.

Michigan currently directs less than 6% of its healthcare spending toward primary care. That underinvestment comes as primary care faces growing pressure due to significant pay gaps between primary care and specialty medicine, high medical school debt, limited residency opportunities, an aging workforce and an aging population with increasing healthcare needs.

These challenges are especially acute in rural and underserved communities, where recruiting and retaining providers can be particularly difficult.

The Primary Care Transformation Package would:

• Put Michigan on a path to double its investment in primary care over eight years, with a measurable 12% investment target for state-contracted health plans.
• Establish a State Commission on Primary Care Access, Improvement and Transformation to track primary care investment, workforce trends and access gaps; and identify strategies to expand affordable, high-quality care.
• Create an Office of Primary Care Transformation within MDHHS to track investment, implement state priorities, provide technical assistance and support grants and pilot programs.
• Codify MiDOCS in state law to recruit and retain primary care physicians in underserved communities, expand residency opportunities and improve program oversight.
• Establish MiNURSES to recruit and retain primary care nurses in underserved communities through loan repayment assistance, scholarships and ongoing program oversight.
• Provide tax credits to primary care preceptors who train and mentor future healthcare providers, helping expand hands-on clinical training opportunities.
• Create grants for Michigan medical schools to introduce middle and high school students to healthcare careers through hands-on experiences and pathways into the healthcare workforce.
• Create MEDSS, a state-backed loan program to help Michigan students pursuing primary care careers continue their graduate health education after reaching the federal student loan cap.