76 percent of doctors said Affordable Care Act (ACA) will increase healthcare costs and reduce access to care “significantly” or “somewhat”, according to a new survey released by Jackson & Coker, a subsidiary of Jackson Healthcare, the nation’s third largest healthcare staffing company.
The survey found that 73 percent of physicians said patients would have less choice in picking their doctor due to Obamacare. A majority of physicians — 56 percent — also support repealing or defunding the law. Thirty-eight percent said the ACA should remain but should be changed or modified. Only 6 percent of doctors said it should remain unchanged.
“The more physicians learn about ACA, the more they dislike it and want to start over. The survey shows that patients are going to have fewer doctors to choose from, less time to spend with the ones they see and will wind up paying more for their healthcare. Physicians believe it is disruptive to the doctor-patient relationship,” said Richard L. Jackson, chairman and CEO of Jackson Healthcare.
Other key findings from the survey include:
- For those with health insurance, 80 percent of physicians said they believe those patients will wind up paying higher healthcare costs under the ACA.
- Seventy-six percent of doctors said overall healthcare costs would go up due to the new health reform law.
- Sixty percent of doctors said the quality of patient care would be negatively impacted.
- Sixty-six percent of the doctors said they would have to spend more time on administrative duties because of the new law.
- When asked how the law would impact their treatment of patients, 57 percent of physicians said the law would have a negative impact.
- Forty-four percent of the physicians said they would not participate in the Exchange.
- Sixty-one percent of doctors said their opinion of the law has changed for the worse.
“Physicians are the most knowledgeable people about what’s going on in healthcare and we wanted to give them a voice about something that affects all of us,” said Sandra Garrett, president of Jackson & Coker, a leading physician staffing firm.
A total of 3,072 practicing physicians completed the survey conducted Nov. 8-12. The error range for the survey was +/-1.8 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. Respondents spanned all 50 states and included all medical/surgical specialties.
To view the nationwide physicians survey go to:http://www.jacksoncoker.com/cmscontent/Emails/Surveys/ACA/ACAreport.
Featured image credit: Alex E. Proimos via cc
