More than nine of 10 leaders in health and health care policy believe the Affordable Care Act sets the right course for health reform, according to a new survey.
And despite wide differences of opinion in Congress, and varied levels of support among the general public, nearly seven of 10 experts favor implementing the law with little or no change, according to the latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey, which asked respondents their views about priorities for the 112th Congress.
Few leaders surveyed expressed clear opposition to the law: only 9 percent believe the health reform law sets the wrong course for the nation; none said that the health system as it stands now requires no major changes.
Respondents voiced strong support for moving forward with all the major provisions of the law, note Commonwealth Fund researchers Kristof Stremikis, Stuart Guterman, and Karen Davis, in a new data brief on the survey findings.
More than eight of 10 surveyed think it is important or very important to implement state-based health insurance exchanges, the requirement that individuals purchase insurance coverage, and the expansion of Medicaid to cover more lower-income individuals
Support for delivery system reform provisions including the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to develop and implement new payment and delivery system approaches 83 percent
Other options that received substantial support include”
- Permanent increases in Medicare and Medicaid payments to primary care physicians (72 percent)
- Aligning payment methods and rates across public and private payers (69 percent)
- Accelerating the implementation of bundled payment methods (66 percent).
Addtiaonlly, few leaders believe allowing consumers to purchase insurance across state lines (38 percent) or expanding the use of health savings accounts (22 percent) will be effective in achieving a high performance health care system, the survey said.
The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of The Commonwealth Fund and included opinions from 1,311 opinion leaders in health policy and innovators in health care delivery and finance.
The final sample included 203 respondents from four sectors: academic/research institutions, health care delivery, business/insurance/other health care industry, and government/labor/consumer advocacy, for a response rate of 15.5 percent.
