A previous survey conducted at the beginning of 2015 showed 48 percent of primary care physicians viewed the ACA favorably and most reported an increase in the number of Medicaid or newly insured patients without a drop in their ability to provide high-quality care.
However, a more recent study of primary care physicians, conducted December 2016 to January 2017, yields different results. Since President Donald Trump’s election, the ACA’s future has been uncertain. He issued an executive order on his first day to lessen the economic burden of the ACA, perhaps in preparation for a repeal and replace.
There were 426 physicians participating in the survey. The researchers found:
1. Fifteen percent of respondents reported they wanted the ACA repealed entirely. None of the respondents identifying as Democrats wanted a repeal, compared with 32.4 percent of respondents identifying as Republicans.
2. Nearly 38 percent of the respondents who voted for President Trump wanted to repeal the ACA entirely.
3. The primary care physicians were less likely than the general public to support a full ACA repeal.
4. Almost all of the respondents support prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage or charging higher prices based on pre-existing conditions, and high support for allowing children to remain on their parents’ insurance through age 26.
5. Ninety percent of the respondents supported providing tax credits to small businesses and 75.2 percent supported providing tax subsidies to individuals. About half of the respondents — 49.5 percent — favored tax penalties for people who don’t purchase insurance.
6. Nearly 73 percent supported the Medicaid expansion.
7. Around 74 percent of the respondents supported making changes to the law, most favorably changes that would increase choice for consumers such as creating a public option to compete with private plans and providing tax cuts to Medicaid-eligible individuals to purchase private insurance.
8. The respondents did not support solutions that would shift more cost to the patients, decreased insurance market regulations or requiring a Medicaid expansion.
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