Straw Poll of Doctors

The straw poll was conducted by Jackson and Coker, a prominent physician staffing firm, and published in their newsletter (http://www.jacksoncoker.com/physician-career-resources/newsletters/month...). Excerpts:

Jackson & Coker Industry Report
October 1, 2012
Results of the 2012 Physicians' Presidential Poll
By Jackson & Coker Research Associates

A new survey of physicians shows that if the Presidential election were held today, 55 percent would vote for Mitt Romney and 36 percent would support President Obama, according to a survey conducted by Jackson & Coker, a division of Jackson Healthcare, the third largest healthcare staffing company in the US.

When asked how they felt about the Affordable Care Act, 55 percent said “repeal and replace” the new law while 40 percent said “implement and improve” the ACA.

My comment:

More than half of the physicians who responded to the opportunity to participate in this poll (only a 3% response rate) indicated that they wanted to see the Affordable Care Act repealed. Probably the same group who indicated that they planned to vote for Mitt Romney. The leading reason why physicians who voted for Pres. Obama in 2008 but were not planning to vote for him in 2012 switched was the general dislike of the Affordable Care Act. If Pres. Obama fails to be re-elected, it will be hard to escape the notion that passage of the Affordable Care Act was a big mistake, at least from the perspective of his political aspirations. Health system failure remains the major domestic issue in the USA. We Americans have yet to really honestly deal with the problems associated with our business as usual approach to health care delivery. One way or another, repeal of the Affordable Care Act must precede real health system reform.

Dr. Joe Jarvis