It
is now even less popular than when it barely passed Congress in March
2010. The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, which has always shown the
highest support for Obamacare of any major poll, found that 46 percent
of Americans approved it when it originally passed. Kaiser’s latest
survey this month finds that only 37 percent approve. Breaking that
down, only 18 percent of Republicans and 31 percent of independents have
a favorable opinion of the health-care reform. Among Democrats, only 58
percent like Obamacare overall. By a margin of about 2 to 1, those who
responded to the Kaiser poll believe that health-care costs will rise
and the quality of health care will decline in coming years, exactly the
opposite of what President Obama promised.
One reason is that Obamacare is likely to exacerbate a growing shortage
of physicians, and people are starting to notice. More and more
anecdotal evidence is piling up that patients can’t get in to see their
doctors as quickly as they used to. The Association of American Medical
Colleges predicts that the U.S. will be short 62,900 physicians by 2015 —
only two years away — and as many as 140,000 by 2025. That latter
number would represent a shortfall of 15 percent.
A new survey
by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions shows that one of the key
reasons for the growing shortage is that unhappy doctors are leaving
their careers early. Of the physicians whom Deloitte surveyed, 62
percent said it’s likely that many of their colleagues will abandon
their practice in the next one to three years. Another 55 percent
predict that their colleagues will cut back on practice hours and have
less time to see patients.
It’s
not hard to figure out why there’s so much discontent. Four in ten
doctors reported to Deloitte that, from 2011 to 2012, their income fell.
A full 40 percent of those whose income was cut blamed Obamacare.
Nearly half of all doctors (51 percent) believe physicians’ incomes will
fall dramatically in the next one to three years. In addition, doctors
see little chance for positive reforms passing Congress. Only one in ten
expect meaningful medical-liability reform to become law in the next
one to three years. Only a quarter think Congress will change its
practice of ratcheting down Medicare reimbursements.
Read More: The National Review
