PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ma, Melissa
AU  - Etz, Rebecca
AU  - Bazemore, Andrew
AU  - Grumbach, Kevin
TI  - The General Public Vastly Overestimates Primary Care Spending in the United States
AID  - 10.1370/afm.240413
DP  - 2025 Feb 24
TA  - The Annals of Family Medicine
PG  - 240413
4099  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/early/2025/02/25/afm.240413.short
4100  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/early/2025/02/25/afm.240413.full
AB  - This study assessed public perceptions of US primary care spending. An online survey was conducted using SurveyMonkey Audience (Symphony Technology Group), achieving a sample of 1,135 adult respondents reflective of the demographic distribution of the US adult population. Respondents’ mean estimate of the percentage of US health care spending funding primary care was 51.8% (SD 24.8, interquartile range [IQR] 40). Respondents’ mean estimate of the percentage of health care needs addressed by primary care was 58.7% (SD 22.2, IQR 28.5) These results reveal a tremendous disparity between current levels of primary care spending (4.7%) and public perceptions of primary care expenditure and value.