The expansion of health insurance coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act presents opportunities and challenges for healthcare providers, including physician practices.
In April, to assess the impact the PPACA exchanges have had on physicians, the Medical Group Management Association surveyed more than 700 medical groups in which more than 40,000 physicians practice nationwide. Here are 10 key statistics from their findings.
1. Almost 80 percent of survey respondents said their practice is participating with new health insurance products offered through the exchanges.
2. More than 90 percent of those surveyed said their practice has seen patients with exchange plan coverage.
3. Of those contracting with PPACA exchange plans, nearly 58 percent said they were doing so to remain competitive in their local markets.
4. Fifty-six percent of respondents said there was no change in their practice's patient population size through April, despite the implementation of the exchanges.
5. However, about 44 percent of physicians polled expect the exchanges will cause their patient population size to increase slightly by the end of this year.
6. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed reported patients with exchange plans are very or extremely likely to have high deductibles.
7. Nearly 38 percent said obtaining cost-sharing information is much more difficult for patients with exchange plans, compared with patients with traditional commercial health insurance coverage.
8. Approximately 37 percent of physicians reported obtaining information about the exchange plans' provider networks in order to facilitate referrals is also much more difficult.
9. Nearly 41 percent of physicians polled said their practices have seen patients with PPACA exchange plans that could not receive covered services because the practice was not included in the plan's provider network.
10. Overall, 44.3 percent of physicians surveyed thought the PPACA exchanges would have an unfavorable impact on their practices.
More Articles on Health Insurance Exchanges:
Safety Net Hospitals Seeing More Paying Patients
3 Key Findings on the Newly Insured
HHS: Qualified Health Plans Can Accept Payments From Nonprofit Foundations