Do primary care doctors and nurse practitioners hate Obamacare? It depends on whom you ask.
Nearly nine of 10 healthcare professionals who are Democrats favor the law, according to a recent survey, and the same portion of Republicans oppose it. A joint survey released Thursday and conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund detailed the responses.
The survey also looked into how physicians and other healthcare professionals are faring under the law since it was implemented in 2014.
Overall, 59 percent of doctors and 64 percent of nurse practitioners and other health professionals have seen a higher number of previously uninsured patients since January 2014, shortly after the first year of open enrollment in Obamacare concluded.
Providers who see a higher proportion of Medicaid patients are also more likely to say the Medicaid expansion has positively affected their ability to provide quality care.
However, these higher patient volumes aren’t impeding the ability to provide high-quality care.
Nearly 80 percent of physicians said that their ability to provide high-quality care has stayed the same or has improved. For nurse practitioners and physician assistants the figure is 82 percent.
In a unique twist, a majority of primary care providers (83 percent of physicians and 93 percent of nurse practitioners and physician assistants both Republican and Democrats) report they are very or somewhat satisfied with their medical practice overall.
However, many doctors are pessimistic about the future of medicine. The answers also run along party lines. Democrats (56 percent) more likely than Republicans (39 percent) to say they would recommend a career in primary care.
The two groups surveyed 1,624 primary care physicians and about 366 nurse practitioners and 159 physician assistants earlier this year.
