Survey: Many Primary Care Practices Feel Endangered by Medicaid Cuts
A recent survey of 561 U.S. primary care clinicians found that more than one-third of respondents are worried proposed Congressional changes to the Medicaid program could imperil their practices.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 7.8 million Americans would lose coverage under the House version of the funding bill under consideration.
The Larry Green Center survey (fielded in May)—revealed that 34.7% of respondents believe their “practice would lose its financial viability” if there were a reduction in Medicaid funding. Additionally, 40% of respondents believe “more than 10% of [their] patients would no longer receive preventive services” if Medicaid funding were reduced, as is proposed in the current bill under consideration by Congress. Only 15% of respondents believe potential changes would not affect their practice.
The Larry A. Green Center for the Advancement of Primary Health Care for the Public Good is a thought collective founded by Rebecca Etz, Ph.D., at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Kurt Stange, M.D., Ph.D., at Case Western Reserve University.
“Primary care manages over a third of all medical visits and respondents are telling us that 1 in 3 of them will shutter their doors if Medicaid reductions go through,” said Etz in a statement. “Among those that survive, the proposed changes to Medicaid will dramatically reduce critical aspects of care – like preventive services – and will cause painful reductions to care access.”
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has also said that Medicaid cuts would likely reduce access to primary and specialty care. “As Medicaid cuts cause providers to limit services or leave the area, all individuals in the community would have less access to healthcare. This includes children: Medicaid is a large source of revenue for pediatric providers, since children make up almost half of the Medicaid population,” the organization said in a May 2025 blog.
The Green Center survey respondents are all primary care clinicians. The survey is routinely fielded through a Green Center national research cohort and through the support of over 20 primary care organizations. The Green Center says it is one of the few data sources that regularly offers insights into primary care clinician assessments of what changes to Medicaid would have on the “front door” of the health system.
“This survey underscores how counterproductive these proposals could be to addressing our nation’s chronic disease crisis,” said Ann Greiner, president and CEO of the Primary Care Collaborative, in a statement. “Millions would lose access to preventive care and effective care management, and more Americans could be forced to rely on already overburdened emergency departments for routine care.”
The survey, funded by the Healing Works Foundation, was fielded May 8 – 15 by the Larry Green Center in collaboration with Elation Health and 20 primary care organizations. Survey findings are regularly disseminated in partnership with the Primary Care Collaborative.
The PCC has previously urged Congress to reconsider the proposed changes, including in a joint letter with 94 other organizations spanning the healthcare landscape and a release issued earlier this year.
