Payers, Social Determinants

U.S. physicians split on future of payer landscape, survey shows

A new survey of U.S. physicians shows that they have differing views on how the payer market needs to evolve, but a vast majority agree that affordable insurance is necessary to provide access to high-quality care while reducing costs.

The future of health insurance is one of the most hotly debated topics in the country, and physicians — like most — are split on the best option moving forward. Though over two-thirds of physicians said they prefer a two-tiered insurance system, with a single payer option and private insurance, about 40% said that a Medicare for All system is the best or next-best direction for the U.S. healthcare system, according to a new survey.

In part three of its 2020 survey, The Physicians Foundation focused on the impact of COVID-19 and the future of healthcare. The survey, conducted between Sept. 14 and 28, includes responses from 1,270 physicians nationwide.

In addition to the physicians who prefer a two-tiered system or Medicare for All, 49% of physicians rated maintaining or improving the current Affordable Care Act-influenced system as the best or next-best direction for the U.S. payer landscape, and 45% of physicians said a market-driven system, featuring health savings accounts and catastrophic plans, is the way forward.

But regardless of their differing viewpoints, a vast majority of physicians (89%) agreed that providing affordable health insurance is a key step to ensuring wide access to high-quality and cost-efficient care.

Other steps that physicians rated as important or extremely important for improving healthcare access and controlling costs included:

  • Simplifying or streamlining the prior authorization process for medical services and prescriptions (89%)
  • Providing insurance coverage for Covid-19 diagnosis and treatment (83%)
  • Reimbursing physicians for providing telemedicine services (82%)

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for affordable and easy-to-access mental healthcare services grew rapidly as stress and anxiety levels soared. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows close to 41% of U.S. adults, polled in June, reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition.

Approximately 86% of physicians rated simplifying access to mental health services as an important policy step that should be taken, according to the Physicians Foundation survey.

Physicians are increasingly focused on payment for social determinants of health, with 63% percent saying that reimbursing physicians for addressing social factors, such as poverty and homelessness, is a key policy step. The biggest support for this reimbursement comes from female physicians (74%) and those who are younger than 45 years (75%).

Another 70% said that payers should include hurdles to accessing healthy food and safe housing in risk scoring formulas that determine patient complexity.

Looking ahead, almost all physicians surveyed (94%) indicated that chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, will place the highest demand on the healthcare system in 2021, followed by conditions that worsened due to treatment delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic (86%).

Photo credit: mkurtbas, Getty Images

 

 

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