Press Release: Colorado Family Physicians to Partner with CMS in a Multi-State Initiative to Strengthen Primary Care

Press Release: July 7, 2023

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will be partnering with Colorado to pilot a new primary care model to enhance access to and quality of primary care services. Making Care Primary is an investment model aimed at improving care management and care coordination, equipping primary care clinicians with tools to form partnerships with health care specialists, and leveraging community-based connections to address patients’ health needs outside the clinic such as housing and nutrition. The model launches July 1, 2024. 

CAFP is excited to promote this voluntary primary care model to members, which will span 10.5 years with three participation tracks that build on previous primary care models. Members can learn more about the overview and design here. More details about the application process are expected later this summer and CAFP will continue to keep members informed.

As Colorado family physicians know, family medicine and primary care clinicians are increasingly having to do more with fewer resources. From complex patient populations, increasing administrative burden, and consolidation in medicine, sustainable and significant investments in primary care are critical. Earlier this year, the Milbank Memorial Fund and The Physicians Foundation partnered to create the first national primary care scorecard. The report, which was prepared by the AAFP Robert Graham Center, found “a chronic lack of adequate support for the implementation of high-quality primary care in the United States across all measures,” including financing, workforce, access, training, and research.

Colorado is a leader in the nation for practice innovation and CAFP is at the forefront of advocating for increased primary care investment. Recent CAFP-led initiatives include the 2019 creation of Colorado’s Primary Care Payment Reform Collaborative, extended tax credits for rural preceptors, and a 16% Medicaid rate increase for PCPs utilizing alternative payment methods. The work, however, is far from complete.

CAFP applauds CMS and Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCFP) for developing this innovative primary care model, while urging continued and meaningful action to address the struggling primary care landscape upon which the health of all Coloradans depends.

Media inquiries: Emily Bishop, CAFP Director of Communications & Member Engagement