The Health of US Primary Care: 2026 Thematic Report
Critical measures of primary care performance nationally and across all states show primary care in crisis, and clear evidence-based solutions to fix it.
For many patients, navigating the health care system feels frustrating and reactive—care is often hard to access until they are already sick, leaving them feeling unsupported in managing their health over time. As a result, chronic conditions are becoming increasingly common and represent an enormous health and financial burden, with heart disease alone costing more than $200 billion annually and cancer care projected to reach $240 billion a year by 2030.
This year’s special thematic report explores how primary care plays a vital role in providing routine care, in the prevention, early detection, and management of chronic disease, while also helping reduce the financial burden on both the US health care system and its patients.
The Missing Strategy in America's Fight Against Chronic Disease
Adults and children with a usual source of primary care are more likely to receive the preventive services needed to avoid the development of chronic disease.
Key scorecard findings:
- 95% of all adults with a usual source of primary care received preventive services for chronic disease, compared to just 67.6% of those without a usual source of primary care.
- Children with a usual source of primary care were also more likely to receive preventive services (e.g. vision testing, accident or injury prevention, secondhand smoke exposure, and obesity prevention).
A usual source of primary care reduces the burden of chronic disease on people and the health care system.
Key scorecard findings:
- For adults with chronic disease, a usual source of primary care lowered odds of going to the emergency department by 11% and hospitalization by 20%.
- For children with chronic disease, a usual source of primary care lowered odds of going to the emergency department or being hospitalized for a condition that can be treated in an outpatient setting by 50%.
- Chronic disease health care expenditures lower with usual source of care for adults (54% lower) and children (40% lower).
Key scorecard findings:
- Continuity of primary care for Medicare patients with chronic diseases linked to lower rates of hospitalization, emergency department use, and overall costs.
An Inside Look at the Thematic Report
Take a closer look at the thematic report findings by exploring Milbank Memorial Fund's dashboard tools, accompanying blog post and recorded webinar.
Milbank: 2026 Scorecard Data Dashboard
This dashboard measures key primary care indicators over the past decade for the nation and across states as the data were available.
Milbank: 2026 Primary Care Scorecard Blog
The 2026 Primary Care Scorecard data show incremental, but fragile, gains in the primary care workforce and training pipeline.
Milbank: 2026 Primary Care Scorecard Webinar
This webinar highlights how the nation and states are performing on primary care workforce, financing, and research funding measures.
Scorecard in the Media
Read the latest news and media featuring the new 2026 thematic report.