Survey: Preventive services, Medicaid coverage hinge on Obamacare fate
by Richard Scott on 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found split views – about 31% of respondents believe their medical practice will see more patients if the ACA is repealed, while an equal number predict more patients without insurance will come in.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- 35% of respondents believe, if the ACA is repealed, the loss of many covered preventive services will have a negative impact on their practice.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one in five practices – 18% of respondents said they would see a “significant loss of Medicaid patients” if the ACA is repealed.