FFFM | March 2026 Advocacy Rounds
Inside Family Medicine · American Academy of Family Physicians
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Show Notes
David Tully, AAFP vice president of government relations, recaps the AAFP's March 2026 advocacy efforts. Academy EVP and CEO Shawn Martin testified before Congress on how underinvestment fuels workforce shortages, longer waits and practice closures. Chronic disease drives 90% of the $4.9 trillion the US spends on health care each year, but primary care receives less than 5% of those funds. With that in mind, the AAFP urged Congress to improve patients' access and costs by making primary care affordable, supporting science-based vaccine policy, advancing targeted tax policies, protecting medical student loans (including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program) and funding the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality at $500 million.
Topics by Timestamp
00:00 March advocacy recap
00:35 Primary care underfunding
01:48 Capitol Hill meetings
02:03 Affordable access message
02:42 Science-based vaccine policy
03:03 Tax incentives to improve the PC workforce
03:37 Student loan protections
05:23 AI principles in care
07:35 Fund AHRQ research
08:48 Closing and resources
Additional Resources
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