California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 107

Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom

February 21, 2014

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 107—Relative to Year of the Family Physician.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 107, as introduced, Bloom. Year of the Family Physician.

This measure would designate 2014 as the “Year of the Family Physician.”

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Family physicians are trusted members of their
communities, dedicated to keeping patients as healthy as possible
throughout their lives; and

WHEREAS, Family physicians’ practices are a place for patients
and families to turn to for care and needed advice; and

WHEREAS, Family physicians integrate the biological, clinical,
and behavioral sciences to provide continuing and comprehensive
health care; and

WHEREAS, The care provided by family physicians covers all
ages, sexes, each organ system, and every disease; and family
physicians pay special attention to their patients’ lives within the
context of their families and their communities; and

WHEREAS, Family physicians have the unique opportunity to
affect the health of patients over their entire lifetimes; and

WHEREAS, Family physicians can provide patients with a
patient-centered medical home through which they receive a full
range of services within the context of a continuing relationship
with their family physician and are dedicated to treating the whole
person, integrating care for male and female patients of all ages
within the context of the community, and advocating for the patient
in an increasingly complex health care system; and

WHEREAS, Family physicians are geographically distributed
across the country more equitably than other health care providers;
and

WHEREAS, Family physicians are accessible to disadvantaged
populations that lack access to quality health care, which in turn
helps to reduce health disparities; and

WHEREAS, Individuals who regularly visit a family physician
in a patient-centered medical home are more likely to receive
preventive services and better management of chronic illnesses
and have a decreased chance of premature death, thereby improving
health outcomes and lowering costs; and

WHEREAS, Adults in the United States who have a family
physician or another type of primary care physician have 33 percent
lower health care costs and 19 percent lower odds of dying than
those who see only a specialist; and

WHEREAS, As a nation, we would save $67 billion each year
if everyone saw a family physician or another type of primary care
provider as their usual source of care; and

WHEREAS, Meeting the “Triple Aim” of better health, better
care, and lower costs in our health care system means placing a
new emphasis on primary care as provided by family physicians;
and

WHEREAS, The majority of health insurance regulations, the
launch of Covered California, Medi-Cal eligibility expansion, and
other significant provisions of the federal Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) are effective January 1,
2014; and

WHEREAS, There is a tremendous value to ensuring that all
patients have access to health insurance coverage and care,
especially as our communities face a dire shortage of primary care
physicians, including family physicians, a problem that will be
exacerbated by the entrance of millions of newly insured into the
health care market; and

WHEREAS, The implementation of the PPACA will lead to a
significant demand for experienced and well-trained health care
professionals who can treat a wide variety of health conditions and
compassionately guide patients through our complex health care
system; and

WHEREAS, Every patient and every family deserves a family
physician; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature declares 2014 as the “Year
of the Family Physician” in recognition of the critically important
role family physicians will play for patients and communities
during the implementation of the federal Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act of 2010 and beyond; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.