Max Baucus: “In this Olympic year, America's greatest winter athletes came together in the spirit of competition and sportsmanship to…”

“In this Olympic year, America's greatest winter athletes came together in the spirit of competition and sportsmanship to compete against the world's best. These young men and women come from all over the country, from various backgrounds, but they all share the desire to be the best. Who did we send to represent us? Who did we send to go for the gold? America's best. Our first team. We need the same commitment in health care. We want our first team in the rural areas where the need for basic, primary health care is greater than even before. We depend on the skills of primary care physicians for providing prevention and early detection services. Over two-thirds of the State of Montana is classified by the Federal Government as a health professional shortage area [HPSA]. Isolation, economics, and family issues have shrunk the pool of primary care doctors. Primary care physicians who do choose to work in rural areas face difficult circumstances--unreasonably long and stressful hours, and much lower salaries than their urban counterparts. Over the past few years, a consensus has emerged on the physician specialty imbalance. We now have 30 percent in primary care and 70 percent in nonprimary care. The surplus of medical specialists drives up U.S. health care costs, which are already the highest in the world. We need to even the balance if we are to move toward meaningful health reform.”