A majority of doctors view Obamacare in an unfavorable light, according to a new report from the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Fifty-two percent of physicians view the Affordable Care Act unfavorably, while 48 percent said they hold favorable views about the health care law, reported the Washington Free Beacon.
"There is frustration about higher cost to patients, out-of-pocket costs, and many high deductible plans," said Dr. Wanda Filer, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "Also, it is some patients' first time having insurance and they are facing premiums and deductibles and not sure how it works and some have to educate patients."
Thirty-six percent of doctors said the law has had a negative impact on the medical practice overall, while only 23 percent said it has had a positive impact. Thirty-one percent said it has had no impact and 9 percent were not sure.
In terms of quality of patient care, 25 percent of respondents said the law has had a negative impact on the care they can give their patients, 18 percent said it has had a positive impact and 50 percent said it has had no impact.
Thirty-five percent said they believe the law has had a negative impact on their ability to meet patient demand, while only 10 percent said it had a positive impact.
"Many providers feel that the amount of time they have with each patient and the time they spend on insurance administration issues have gotten worse. Four of 10 physicians and more than a third of midlevel providers said the amount of time they have available to spend with each patient has gotten worse since January 2014," said the report, according to Newsmax.
When it came to cost of patient health care, 44 percent of doctors said the law has had a negative impact, while 21 percent said it has had a positive impact.
Medical providers have become frustrated by the administrative work required by the law, according to Filer. "There is a sense of frustration regarding a lot more administrative work to confirm coverage, who are they covered by, and so there are a lot more dealings with insurance," she said.
Respondents held the most positive views in regards to access to health care and insurance across the country. Forty-eight percent said the law has had a positive effect on health care access, and only 24 percent said access is worse.
"We are finding a lot of our members are noticing a positive impact on patient access to health care and to insurance," said Filer. "Six of 10 physicians say they are seeing more newly insured patients. Now more uninsured patients are seeing more access to primary and preventive care."
