Grassley urges primary healthcare

Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2009

Plans to overhaul the U.S. health insurance system must make primary healthcare a more attractive career field, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley said. Sen. Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said that many areas of the U.S. currently overuse medical specialists, resulting in higher costs throughout the healthcare system. MedPAC, an outside organization that advises the Medicare program, has suggested that Medicare increase payments for primary care physicians. Sen. Grassley endorsed a similar approach.