Survey: Preventive services, Medicaid coverage hinge on Obamacare fate

by: Richard Scott Nov 21, 2016

As the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) hangs in the balance, readers of Part B News weighed in on the impact of possible seismic changes.

A small survey of 85 respondents conducted in the aftermath of the Nov. 8 election found split views – about 31% of respondents believe their medical practice will see more patients if the ACA is repealed, while an equal number predict more patients without insurance will come in.

Here’s a rundown of more results from the Part B News survey:

35% of respondents believe, if the ACA is repealed, the loss of many covered preventive services will have a negative impact on their practice. About 56% said it would have no effect, while 9% reported fewer covered preventive services would result be a positive thing. The ACA expanded the number of preventive services available without co-insurance.
Half of practices – 50% – believe that substituting ACA plans with health savings accounts will have a positive impact on their practice.
Slightly fewer practices – 48% – think that a wholesale elimination of the ACA exchanges will have a positive impact on their practice. About 32% said it will have no effect, and 20% said it will have a positive effect.
The majority of practices (64%) reported that they are taking a wait-and-see approach before deciding on any changes to their structure or operations. Another 20% said they’re not doing anything. Just under 10% of practices said that they are either not accepting any more patients who are on exchanges (7%) or will no longer serve those patients (2%).
The potential loss of Medicaid-covered patients will impact nearly one in five practices – 18% of respondents said they would see a “significant loss of Medicaid patients” if the ACA is repealed.

Blog Tags: CMS, health care reform

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