Primary Care Spending in the United States, 2002-2016

Insufficient investment in primary care is one reason that the US health care system continues to underperform relative to the health systems in other high-income countries.1 States and countries with greater access to primary care clinicians and more robust primary care services have better outcomes and lower costs.2,3 For this reason, Rhode Island and Oregon have mandated measurement and targeting of primary care expenditures, and other states are considering related legislation.2,4,5 Despite consistent evidence of cost savings, variations in definitions of primary care make comparisons of spending difficult, both in the US and other countries. We used national US health care survey data to assess primary care expenditures relative to other sources of health care spending.