THURSDAY, Jan. 26, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- A majority of primary care doctors oppose full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, according to a perspective piece published online Jan. 25 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers polled 426 internal medicine physicians, pediatricians, geriatricians, and family doctors and found that only 15 percent agree with a complete dismantling of the health reform law.
About three-quarters of the doctors support changes to the law. Those changes include creating a public option like Medicare to compete with private plans, paying doctors for value rather than volume, and increasing the use of health savings accounts. Only 29 percent of the doctors support increased use of high-deductible health plans.
The survey found strong support for parts of the Affordable Care Act: 95 percent of the doctors support rules prohibiting insurers from denying coverage or charging higher prices to people with pre-existing conditions; 88 percent support allowing young adults to remain on their parents' insurance plan until age 26; 91 percent support tax credits to small businesses that offer health insurance to employees; 75 percent support tax subsidies to individuals to buy insurance; 72 percent support Medicaid expansion; and 50 percent support tax penalties for people who don't buy health insurance. Among the doctors, no Democrats want complete repeal, compared with 32 percent of Republicans and nearly 38 percent of those who voted for President Donald Trump.
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