Out of medication and without a doctor 鈥� her former physician had left Hawthorn Medical Associates three months earlier 鈥� Fairhaven resident Noelle Aubin was given a 60-day prescription and sent on her way. If she couldn鈥檛 find a new doctor before it ran out, she says the practice told her, she could get refills at urgent care or the emergency department.
Finding a new primary care doctor has been easier said than done. Aubin has been trying to do so since November 2025, to no avail. None of the providers Hawthorn suggested are near Aubin, and even if she were willing to make the trip, they couldn鈥檛 get her in until August. When she called Southcoast Health, she said she was told that no doctors were available and was placed on a waitlist.
鈥淚鈥檝e been calling around and practically begging my friends and family to ask their doctors to take me in,鈥� Aubin told The Light in an email. 鈥淭hese large corporations are not focusing on primary care 鈥� they are focusing on finding doctors who can make the corporation more and more money.鈥�
Aubin is among 30% of Massachusetts residents who have had difficulty accessing primary care, according to a .
A bill the Senate passed in June is trying to change this. It now awaits action in the House, with a deadline of July 31. House leadership hasn鈥檛 said whether it will take up the bill, but three House members from New Bedford said they support it.
The bill could benefit New Bedford. Only 36 primary care clinicians are practicing in the city, and between 20,000 and 25,000 New Bedford residents have no primary care provider, a report said last year.
In recent years, investment in specialty healthcare has 鈥渟kyrocketed,鈥� because it is generally more profitable than primary healthcare, according to a . and reimburse specialty services at higher rates. A common procedure, such as a colonoscopy, can in a couple of hours than a primary care physician earns in a full day of work.
Meanwhile, only 6.6% of commercial healthcare spending in Massachusetts was directed to primary care in 2024, according to a report from the .
What the bill would do
The bill seeks to require hospitals and other 鈥渉ealth care entities鈥� to incrementally increase primary care spending. It would require them to invest 15% of their total expenditures in primary care by 2030, without increasing overall spending or insurance premiums.
After 2030, the state鈥檚 Health Policy Commission would set the target based on the 鈥渆ver-changing health care cost landscape,鈥� the bill says. The commission would also enforce this mandate, including issuing fines starting at $500,000 or prohibiting the provider from accepting new patients.
Insurance reimbursement gaps are especially tough on community health centers, which provide essential primary care services in areas, . Commercial insurers pay physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants who work in offices who work in community health centers.
In response, the bill would require commercial insurance companies to reimburse community health centers at least the same rates that MassHealth does for the same services.
New Bedford Community Health wouldn鈥檛 see much benefit from this proposal, since over 80% of its revenue comes through Medicaid, according to the practice鈥檚 president and CEO, Cheryl Bartlett. Still, Bartlett said, it鈥檚 鈥渁 great thing.鈥�
The Senate鈥檚 proposal also aims to address the shortage of primary care providers. It would re-establish the state鈥檚 Medicaid graduate medical education program, which was . If Massachusetts were to use Medicaid dollars to finance medical fellowships and residencies, the federal government would provide one-to-one matching funds.
The bill stipulates that the postgraduate training must take place in community-based healthcare settings and focus on primary care, behavioral health or other areas with provider shortages.
This effort builds on a state law passed in early June that for UMass Chan Medical School students who agree to practice family medicine in underserved communities in Massachusetts after they graduate.
Senators also aim to address primary care providers鈥� administrative burdens, . The legislation would reduce billing, payment and prior-authorization paperwork.
Bartlett said primary care providers鈥� administrative workload is a significant challenge in the profession. On top of patient notes, they are inundated with paperwork regarding specialist referrals, workers鈥� compensation, family and medical leave, visiting nursing services and more, she said.
鈥�(Primary care providers) spend more time on the administrative side than (they) do in the clinical relationship,鈥� Bartlett said. 鈥淧eople go to medical school to be caregivers, so it鈥檚 frustrating for them.鈥�
The bill would also create a streamlined payment system. Insurers would pay providers a flat monthly fee based on patients鈥� needs, rather than on the number of times they see each patient.
An adopted during the Senate debate would eliminate insurance companies鈥� prior authorization requirements for medication to treat serious mental illness, reducing delays that can 鈥渋mpede (patients鈥�) ability to effectively treat their disease,鈥� a says.
The bill would also to ensure transparency.
Senators increasing access to primary care would not only improve health outcomes, but would 鈥渟ignificantly鈥� lower overall healthcare spending. The fact sheet cites a that found each in-person primary care visit reduces costs by $721 per patient per year.
The Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association is less confident about the bill. The Association represents every hospital and healthcare system in the commonwealth, .
In a written statement provided to The Light, Vice President Leigh Simons praised the Senate鈥檚 efforts but urged 鈥渟erious caution around measures that would unintentionally weaken our local healthcare system even further.鈥�
The Association about the primary care spending target, including how it accounts for the 鈥渄eep losses鈥� hospitals are expected to face due to .
Primary care in New Bedford
New Bedford residents have very few primary care options.
Only 36 primary care clinicians practice in New Bedford, a by the Primary Care for All Americans New Bedford Work Group found. Of those 36, only 15 are physicians and only five physicians provide primary care to adults. The remaining clinicians are nurse practitioners.
Between 20,000 and 25,000 New Bedford residents have no primary care relationship at all, the report estimates. To serve the number of people without primary care, the city would need at least 13 to 17 additional clinicians.
Three main primary care practices serve New Bedford residents 鈥� Southcoast Health, Hawthorn Medical Associates and New Bedford Community Health.
At the time of the report, Southcoast Health reported an approximate 59-day wait for a new patient primary care appointment. Aubin鈥檚 search suggests some patients are now experiencing longer waits.
Hawthorn Medical Associates was not accepting new adult primary care patients and had a waiting list of about 4,000 people at the time of the report.
Neither Southcoast Health nor Hawthorn Medical Associates granted an interview request.
The wait time for a new adult patient appointment at New Bedford Community Health was nine months at the time of the report. Bartlett told The Light that the wait time is now three months, but that it regularly changes.
New Bedford faces a unique set of obstacles on top of the statewide primary care challenges.
New Bedford鈥檚 poverty rate is . As a result, the report said, over 10% of the city鈥檚 population reported delaying or not seeking care because of cost.
New Bedford is as a 鈥渓ow-income population health professional shortage area鈥� for primary care, meaning there are not enough primary care providers to serve the city鈥檚 low-income residents.
The report links the city鈥檚 economic opportunity to education. New Bedford has one of the lowest levels of educational attainment in the commonwealth, and its high school graduation rate is well below the state average, according to the report.
鈥淣ot surprisingly, a lower percentage of students plan to attend college, which reduces the pool of young people who might attend health professional school, and come home to practice in New Bedford,鈥� the report says.
Transportation is also a significant barrier to primary care, as nearly 1 in 5 New Bedford adults do not have a car. Many residents have primary care providers at Southcoast Health and Hawthorn Medical practices in Fairhaven and Dartmouth, both of which are an average of 30 minutes by bus. But residents who have trouble accessing public transportation, including older adults, often cannot get to appointments.
The report adds that 57% of New Bedford residents identified language as a barrier to care. Over 42% of patients have a primary language other than English, but the three primary care practices in the Greater New Bedford area reported that only nine clinicians speak Spanish, 10 speak Portuguese and 11 speak other languages.
Will the House address primary care this session?
The Senate bill has been before the House Ways and Means Committee since June 24, but it is unclear whether the House will take it up this session.
House Speaker Ronald Mariano鈥檚 spokesperson, Ana Vivas, told The Light that 鈥渢he House is reviewing the bill passed by the Senate.鈥� Vivas did not respond to a follow-up question about Mariano鈥檚 views on the bill.
Despite House leadership鈥檚 lack of commitment to the bill, South Coast representatives identified a clear need for primary care reforms.
Rep. Mark Sylvia, D-Fairhaven, called the Senate legislation 鈥渁 comprehensive bill that I think tackles all of the different issues that have been raised.鈥�
Sylvia said his constituents, including physicians, have told him about long wait times and other challenges in accessing and providing primary care. Sylvia co-sponsored a in the House, which has been pending in the Health Care Financing Committee since November 2025.
鈥淚 think a combination of provisions in (the Senate bill) all reflect that it鈥檚 not a single solution,鈥� Sylvia said.
Rep. Christopher Markey, D-Dartmouth, also said he supports the Senate bill because it addresses the 鈥渂ureaucracy that gets in the way of good medicine.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think (primary care providers) signed up for being paper pushers,鈥� Markey said. 鈥淚 think they signed up to care for people.鈥�
Markey added that he鈥檇 like to see an amendment that incentivizes primary care providers to work in underserved areas such as New Bedford, likening it to the city鈥檚 , which attracts new businesses.
鈥淚f you look at our community, compared to the rest of the state, it鈥檚 poor. Compared to the rest of the state, it鈥檚 not as educated, and as a result, it鈥檚 not as healthy,鈥� Markey said. 鈥淧rimary care doctors are the best preventative medicine we have.鈥�
Rep. Christopher Hendricks, D-New Bedford, said he hopes the House addresses the bill as soon as possible because it鈥檚 鈥渋ncredibly important.鈥�
Rep. Steven Ouellette, D-Westport, declined to comment because he hadn鈥檛 yet reviewed the bill. Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford, did not grant an interview.
If the House does not pass its own version of the Senate bill by July 31, the bill will die for the session. If it does pass one, and the two chambers form a conference committee, the Legislature will have the rest of 2026 to reach a compromise.
___
This story was originally published by and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
