64% of Polled Doctors Plagued by Rising Medical Spending
One survey from QuantiaMD shows that 64 percent of polled doctors are concerned with rising medical spending.
By - The health insurance industry needs to continue addressing rising healthcare costs and the increases in spending among hospitals and the pharmaceutical field. Many stakeholders within the healthcare space find that high rates of medical spending is a serious issue including physicians, payers, and government agencies like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). One survey from QuantiaMD shows that 64 percent of polled doctors are concerned with rising medical spending.
More than 1,000 members from QuantiaMD were surveyed on a variety of topics for this poll. When looking at the base of members within QuantiaMD, 55 percent are primary care doctors and 45 percent come from other medical specialties.
Some other major themes that physicians were concerned about include “caring for an aging population” as well as “bureaucratic fragmentation and red tape.” As many 55 percent of doctors reported bureaucracy and red tape as one of the biggest obstacles in the hospital industry while 47 percent stated that providing medical care to an older, aging population proves to be a challenge.
The majority of polled physicians – 91 percent – stated that health-based lobbies including that of the health insurance industry and the pharmaceutical sector yield an excessive amount of political power. In addition, most of the doctors polled, as many as 83 percent, believe that the federal government should be responsible for funding medical research and advancements. Less than 5 percent of those polled, however, disagree with that sentiment.
It seems that most physicians from the survey believe that the government’s medical spending should be set aside for both research revolving around technologies and medical devices as well as studies centered on chronic disease like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The poll uncovered that 9 percent felt government funding should be designated to just medical research related to chronic medical conditions while 2.7 percent felt the medical spending should be set aside for only technological innovations.
Out of 589 doctors surveyed, a total of 64 percent stated that they would prefer keeping the Affordable Care Act as an outline and framework but making changes to remove any weaknesses. Additionally, one out of four doctors stated that they would prefer to eliminate the Affordable Care Act altogether and start from scratch at reforming the healthcare industry and medical spending.
“Keep (the ACA) as a baseline with changes, such as no more $10,000 deductibles for out of network (patients forced out of network because few doctors on panels due to extremely low reimbursement) transition to national healthcare,” one polled physician stated.
A mere 8 percent of those polled felt that keeping the Affordable Care Act as it currently stands is the best option. Additionally, half of those polled believe that healthcare reform should begin with the work of state and federal agencies.
“This needs overhaul, big time. I agree with Bernie Sanders. We need single-payer health insurance (“Medicare for All”) and get profit out of health care. Every act that is supposed to benefit patients, e.g., Medicare Part D, ends up pumping more and more profit into the healthcare system, a “giveaway” for HMOs and Pharma,” another doctor said in the survey.
It seems that many healthcare leaders are looking to transform the Affordable Care Act and current reform on medical spending among payers and providers. Some are interested in pursuing universal healthcare while others want to change more minor parts of the way health insurance works. Despite the many reforms that have already taken place, the future may hold many more changes for the healthcare industry and the pursuit of lowering medical spending.
