A random sample survey carried out on 426 primary care physicians by a team of researchers suggests that the majority of them don't support repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) entirely. Additionally, the percentage of those who would repeal it entirely is lower than the one of the general public.
According to the results of the study, published Jan. 25, in the New England Journal of Medicine, 15 percent of the respondents were in favor of the complete repeal of the act. Among the physicians who reported having voted for Trump, no more than 37.9 percent agreed to the complete repeal of ACA.
Physicians, Not In Favor Of Repealing ACA
The subjects of the research were chosen from the American Medical Association's Physician Masterfile, a database with more than 1.4 million medical practitioners, residents, and students from across the country.
In response to the question of what they wanted the federal policymakers to do with the ACA, only 15 percent wanted it completely repealed, which is lower than the 26 percent of the general population of the United States in favor for its repeal, as suggested by a poll conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation.
On the question regarding aspects of the ACA in its current form, almost all of the physicians surveyed agreed to the insurance-market regulations prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage or charging higher prices for preexisting conditions. According to the survey answers, 91 percent of the physicians marked this as "very important" or "somewhat important" for the overall improvement of the population's health.
There is a gap when it comes to the support between provisions that allow people to have insurance without respect to preexisting conditions, as well as the mechanisms of making sure that both sick people and healthy people enroll in coverage. According to these results, there's an underlying necessity to educate health care providers, as well as the public, when it comes to these provisions not being separated. The policies not addressing adverse selection would lead to an increase in the costs of health insurance.
"What we heard is that the majority of primary care physicians are open to changes in the law but overwhelmingly opposed full repeal," noted Craig Pollack, M.D., M.H.S., lead author of the research.
Obamacare, A Disputed Policy
According to a fact sheet from the Department of Health and Human Services, as many as 105 million Americans with an employer or individual market coverage had a lifetime limit on their health insurance policy before the ACA. The policy prohibits annual and lifetime limits on policies so that all Americans who have employer plans also have coverage whenever in need.
Young adults have also benefited from the ACA provision, which allows children to remain on their parents' health insurance up to the age of 26.
"Insurers must now spend at least 80 cents of premium dollars on health care, rather than administrative costs, or else give consumers a refund. Americans with employer coverage have received more than $1 billion in insurance refunds to date," also notes the fact sheet.
