I don't actually have a primary care physician at the moment. My employer, a major player in the IT industry that you've all heard of, limits my hours so I can neither get medical coverage from them, nor afford it on my own. One way or another, I will have coverage come January, thanks to Obamacare. The doctor referred to in the title is actually my ophthalmologist. My trip to see him was quite overdue, but I really needed to see him, because my eyeglass prescription was a couple of years overdue. I've been putting it off for quite a while, because of finances.
I had a question for him about the ACA. I knew it would sound somewhat paranoid, but I asked him if doctors would be able to tell if we are buying our insurance through the exchanges. I told him that I was concerned that with so many doctors totally against the ACA, I feared they might not put out their best effort to help the patient if they were insured via the ACA.
He assured me that as far as he knew, there wasn't any way for the doctors to know. He then went on to tell me why so many doctors, particularly specialists, were hostile to Obamacare. He explained that they were concerned that many lower end procedures were being farmed out to nurse practitioners and various therapists, that they were going to lose business.
Meanwhile, I am wondering to myself why they don't realize that bringing more people into the system will give plenty of work for everyone. And then my doctor said the very same thing. He said that transferring simpler procedures to other providers will free the specialists to do the more challenging tasks, and universal coverage will bring in plenty of customers for all. He wasn't at all speaking for the opponents of Obamacare, but simply explaining them. It turns out that he's very much for the ACA, and considers those doctors who oppose it to be short sighted.
It was really gratifying to hear an established doctor saying some nice things about health reform, and not being afraid of it.. They aren't all tea baggers apparently.