This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Only 15% of primary care physicians want complete repeal of the ACA
The majority of U.S. physicians do not want to see the Affordable Care Act repealed, according to results of a survey recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“We found that [primary care physicians] PCPs strongly endorse key elements of the [Affordable Care Act] ACA that enable individuals to obtain insurance coverage and that very few support repealing the law,” Craig Evan Pollack, MD, MHS, from the Division of General Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues wrote.
The survey results come while President Donald J. Trump’s and Republican leadership meet to discuss plans to repeal and replace the ACA. Trump has repeatedly discussed his intention to repeal and replace the law, which has been echoed by Republicans in the House and Senate. No details from replacement plans have been revealed, but Trump said they would be announced following the confirmation of his nominee for HHS Secretary, Congressman Tom Price, MD, (R-Ga.), who has also expressed his desire to repeal the legislation.
Researchers randomly sampled 1,000 family practitioners, geriatricians, internal medicine doctors and pediatricians from the AMA Masterfile. Of the 426 respondents, 15.1% indicated they wanted a complete repeal of the ACA and 73.8% supported making changes to it.
In addition to the overall numbers on repealing ACA, the survey in the New England Journal of Medicine indicated 95.1% of respondents noted that keeping existing regulations in place, such as preventing insurance companies from charging higher prices or denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, is ‘very important’ or ‘somewhat important.’ In addition, providing tax credits to small businesses (90.8%); allowing adults younger than 26 years of age to remain on their parents’ insurance plans (87.6%); providing tax subsidies to individuals (75.2%); and expanding Medicaid (72.9%) were supported by respondents.
Pollack and colleagues also wrote that most respondents agreed or strongly agreed with some ACA components, such as those to increase the use of health savings accounts (68.7%), to create a public option resembling Medicare to compete with private plans (66.5%) and to provide tax credits to allow people who are eligible for Medicaid to purchase private health insurance (58.6%).
Researchers also noted 29.4% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with increased use of high-deductible health insurance plans, 49.5% agreed or strongly agreed with the tax penalty for individuals who do not purchase insurance, 47.4% agreed or strongly agreed with requiring states to expand Medicaid, 42.8% agreed or strongly agreed to expanding Medicare to adults 55 years to 64 years of age and 42% were in favor of proposals to decrease insurance-market regulations by allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines.
The researchers acknowledged the rare, yet significant nature, of the information they gathered.
“Although much is known about the general public’s perspective on the ACA, less is known about physicians’ attitudes toward health care reform and its potential repeal,” Pollack and colleagues wrote. “The perspectives of PCPs on the potential repeal of the ACA are important for informing the public debate, given PCPs’ central role in the health care system.”
Former President Barack Obama and his administration estimated that some 30 million Americans would lose their health insurance if ACA is repealed without a plan in place.
“We face serious consequences,” then-HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said of such a prospect.
Earlier this month, the AAFP, AAP, American College of Physicians and American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists called on Congress to ensure continued health care access. – by Janel Miller
Further reading:
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.