IN the wake of recent healthcare reform, many worry that a sense of complacency regarding the march toward health care equity will develop. Twenty million Americans gained coverage between the onset of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 and early 2016. (1) Having expanded the tarp of medical coverage to include an even wider swath of our nation, what more could be done to ensure equity in access and quality of care? Despite the amazing strides of the ACA, 11.0% of U.S. adults remained uninsured in early 2016.(2) 

With a large number of Americans straddling the gaps between coverage programs and even more individuals unable to reliably access the care they are now eligible to receive, our journey is far from over. Just as troubling, is the inability of our current system to provide a consistent standard of care across socioeconomic and other demographic spectra. How can physicians pursue policies that will equalize eligibility, access, and quality of care for all patients?