In a January 2024 Milbank Quarterly opinion piece, Connecting Public Health and Primary Care: The Prevention and Public Health Fund Redux, authors Marianne Udow-Phillips, Samantha Iovan and Peter D. Jacobson take a look at the critical role of primary care in bridging the gap between public health and medical care, as emphasized by longstanding funding disparities which were particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Quarterly opinion piece urges a reevaluation of funding priorities and points toward innovative state-level models that leverage primary care to strengthen the public health infrastructure and promote robust population health goals.
As the authors explain, “The lesson from these models is that primary care and public health can and must work together to address the complex challenges of public health. However, primary care practices alone cannot be the leader in addressing community health. Primary care practices must have community partners, especially local public health, for population health goals to be fully realized.”
The article proposes leveraging the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) to bridge funding gaps and strengthen the connection between primary care and public health.
In 2021, monthly ACA health insurance rates for the lowest cost plans in Michigan on the 
Democratic lawmakers in Congress have made a variety of proposals to strengthen or reform the United States health care system. These proposals range from building upon the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to fully transitioning the U.S. to a single-payer system. This fact sheet categorizes and compares the major provisions of these proposals, including possible implications for consumers, health care providers, and federal and state governments.
As of January 2019, 14 states have submitted proposals to the federal government requesting permission to establish work requirements in their Medicaid programs. To date, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved Medicaid work requirements for seven states, and two states (Arkansas and Indiana) have begun implementing these requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries. This overview examines the projected impacts of these Medicaid work requirements.
The Michigan government has jurisdiction over a wide array of health policy issues. From the regulation of insurance products, to oversight of the state’s Medicaid program, to investing in local public health efforts, Michigan policymakers craft policies and budgets that impact the health of millions of Michiganders.
At the start of 2018, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a major shift in federal policy that would allow states to request permission to establish, and test the impact of, work and community engagement requirements for able-bodied adults receiving Medicaid health insurance coverage. In the last five months, work requirement proposals have been approved in four states; formal applications have been submitted by seven more, and a number of others are preparing proposals. Michigan is among the states proposing Medicaid work requirements.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is rolling back regulations around rate increases, essential health benefits, health insurance navigators, and more, for insurers offering Qualified Health Plan coverage on the Health Insurance Marketplace in 2019.
At the start of 2018, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a major shift in federal policy that would allow states to request permission to establish, and test the impact of, work and community engagement requirements for able-bodied adults receiving Medicaid health insurance coverage. In early March, Michigan state senators took the first step toward preparing a Medicaid work requirement proposal of their own by introducing 
When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed in 2010, health analysts expressed concerns that the expansion in coverage, predominantly through Medicaid and the Health Insurance Marketplace would overload the health system and cause problems with access to care. Specifically, many feared the impact of coverage expansion on primary care doctors. Seven million Americans live in areas where demand for primary care may exceed supply by more than 10 percent. An estimated 20 million people have gained insurance coverage nationally since the ACA’s major coverage provisions went into effect in 2014, including more than 14 million in Medicaid and CHIP, as of March 2016.