STAT July 7, 2020
This is an extraordinarily difficult time to be a physician. As the leaders of state medical societies and board members of The Physicians Foundation, we represent primary care physicians and specialists across the country, in blue and red states. We’ve witnessed the Covid-19 crisis cost hundreds of thousands of lives and endanger many of our colleagues.
In the midst of this deadly pandemic, the U.S. health delivery system is facing its own economic instability. To an unprecedented degree, physician practices are on the brink of collapse, with patients staying home and telehealth reimbursements plagued by delays and other challenges. Hospitals, too, are teetering financially, laying off physicians or cutting their salaries.
And this is just the beginning.
Covid-19 is a...