It looks as though the sections of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that boost primary care payment can't come soon enough. A quarter of primary care physicians say they’re struggling financially, according to a June survey.
The 26% of primary care doctors reporting poor financial health in the latest QuantiaMD Physician Wellbeing Index are contributing to the 
overall trend of doctors leaving primary care.
This presents a tremendous challenge, considering ACA provisions -- such as patient-centered medical homes, Accountable Care Organizations, Medicaid expansion and state health insurance exchanges -- will rely on a healthy stream of primary care doctors.
Among those 26% in dire financial straits, 81% say profits are down from last year, 43% are having trouble covering costs and 49% haven’t had a salary increase in one or two years.
Of course primary care physician compensation (or lack thereof compared to specialists) is nothing new. MGMA benchmark data show the median physician compensation at family practices increased by 2.94% from 2009 to 2010, a smaller increase than all other specialties, including cardiology (3.97%) and dermatology (4.16%). Plus the actual average was lowest for family practice at just under $200,000, when compared to all other specialties.
Hopefully there will be enough primary care practitioners remaining to take advantage of the financial benefits coming their way.