How health care reform will affect family physicians. Interview by Brandi White.

On March 23, with the strokes of 22 pens, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This sprawling health care reform bill has many unknowns – chief among them, will it really reduce the deficit by $143 billion over 10 years, as the Congressional Budget Office estimated? But here’s what we do know: The bill will expand health insurance to an estimated 32 million Americans and provide important consumer protections, such as an end to pre-existing condition exclusions. It also includes a variety of less-talked-about measures designed to improve the quality and costeffectiveness of health care. To find out how these measures will affect family physicians, FPM sat down with Kevin Burke, a Washington expert and director of government relations for the AAFP.