While Doctors’ Day has traditionally celebrated physicians’ contributions — specically the date of the first use of general anesthesia in surgery by Dr. Crawford W. Long on March 30, 1842 — this year Massachusetts physicians are redefining it as a platform for advocacy.
Facing federal funding cuts and growing primary care shortages, Massachusetts physicians met with legislators on March 25 at the State House to call for urgent policy action. Physicians from the Massachusetts Medical Society gathered for their first in-person Doctors’ Day since before
the COVID-19 pandemic to advocate for bills to increase primary care access, improve childhood immunization rates, and bolster protections for immigrant health care access.
The renewed urgency comes as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” passed by Congress last July, is expected to cut $3.5 billion annually from federal health care funding to Massachusetts. The cuts amount to about 5% of the state’s proposed total budget for fiscal 2027. This will lead to about 326,000 residents losing health care insurance coverage, according to a minority report of the Joint Economic Committee, based on a report by the Congressional Budget Office. “I’m proud of the advocacy this day represents, but I encourage you to do more,” Dr. Kiame Mahaniah, the state’s secretary of Health and Human Services, told physicians. Mahaniah emphasized that physicians play a critical role in clinical care, but must also advocate for the broader health care system throughout the state.
An aging workforce means a shrinking workforce
Access to primary care physicians has been declining across Massachusetts, and is expected to face greater threats as cuts to Medicaid take effect later this year, according to a recent re-
port by NPR. More than half of in-office physicians are age 55 or older, raising concerns about a shrinking workforce, according to Mahaniah.
State Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington, co-chair of the Legislature’s Committee on Health Care Financing, highlighted the growing strain on the system, as colleagues consistently ask her, “Can you help me get a primary care physician?” Friedman championed several of the bills discussed at the March 25 event.
Throughout the state, primary care represents a small and declining share of total health care spending. This leads to increased strain on emergency departments, according to a presentation from Mass. Medical Society reps.
Physicians advocated for the future of their profession by promoting passage of several bills designed to strengthen primary care access.
Among those proposals is one that would double the investment in primary care over four years, with a target of at least 12% of total health care spending allocated to primary care departments. It would also establish a primary care stabilization fund to deliver payments directly to practices, an idea that Mahaniah and other speakers advocated for throughout the meeting.
Physicians also raised concerns about administrative burdens tied to insurance companies’ prior authorization requirements, an issue they say leads to unnecessary costs and often causes pa-
patients to forgo needed treatment.
The bill, aimed at reducing delays in patient care and administrative burden, would strengthen oversight and improve timely access to treatment.
Addressing declines in vaccination rates
In addition to administrative and industry issues, physicians also advocated for pressing public health concerns as nationwide threats to vaccine and immigration policies begin to take effect
in Massachusetts.
In early January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced the number of recommended vaccines for children. Massachusetts has seen declines in vaccination rates in recent years, as well as a record high number of non-medical religious exemptions, according to the Mass. Medical Society.
In some school communities, vaccination rates have dropped below herd immunity thresholds — the point at which enough people in an area have protection from a disease that it no longer spreads easily, according to the Mass. Medical Society. Vaccination ex-
emption rates among kindergarten students are rising in central and western counties, with 1.6% exempt in Worcester County and 2.7% in Hampden County. In Middlesex County, 1.2% of students had exemptions, while in Suffolk County the rate was 0.8% for the 2024-25 school year, according to the Department of Public Health.
Another proposal would require all public and private schools to report immunization data annually to the Department of Public Health, while ensuring that necessary medical exemptions are maintained.
Physicians also advocated for a provision in a supplemental budget proposal, offered by Gov. Maura Healey, that calls for protecting health care facilities from civil immigration enforce-
ment actions, with the goal of reducing appointment cancellations and no-shows. The bill would restrict immigration agents’ access to health care facilities, requiring a judicial warrant to en-
ter medical facilities.
The House-approved PROTECT Act would restrict local law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE. However, the act does not designate health care facilities as sensitive locations.
