Medical Students’ Views and Knowledge of the Affordable Care Act: A Survey of Eight U.S. Medical Schools

BACKGROUND: It is not known whether medical students support the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or possess the knowledge or will to engage in its implementation as part of their professional obligations. OBJECTIVE: To characterize medical students’ views and knowledge of the ACA and to assess correlates of these views. DESIGN: Cross-sectional email survey. PARTICIPANTS: All 5,340 medical students enrolled at eight geographically diverse U.S. medical schools (overall response rate 52 % [2,761/5,340]). MAIN MEASURES: Level of agreement with four questions regarding views of the ACA and responses to nine knowledge-based questions. KEY RESULTS: The majority of respondents indicated an understanding of (75.3 %) and support for (62.8 %) the ACA and a professional obligation to assist with its implementation (56.1 %). The mean knowledge score from nine knowledge-based questions was 6.9 ± 1.3. Students anticipating a surgical specialty or procedural specialty compared to those anticipating a medical specialty were less likely to support the legislation (OR = 0.6 [0.4–0.7], OR = 0.4 [0.3–0.6], respectively), less likely to indicate a professional obligation to implement the ACA (OR = 0.7 [0.6–0.9], OR = 0.7 [0.5–0.96], respectively), and more likely to have negative expectations (OR = 1.9 [1.5–2.6], OR = 2.3 [1.6–3.5], respectively). Moderates, liberals, and those with an above-average knowledge score were more likely to indicate support for the ACA (OR = 5.7 [4.1–7.9], OR = 35.1 [25.4–48.5], OR = 1.7 [1.4–2.1], respectively) and a professional obligation toward its implementation (OR = 1.9 [1.4–2.5], OR = 4.7 [3.6–6.0], OR = 1.2 [1.02–1.5], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of students in our sample support the ACA. Support was highest among students who anticipate a medical specialty, self-identify as political moderates or liberals, and have an above-average knowledge score. Support of the ACA by future physicians suggests that they are willing to engage with health care reform measures that increase access to care.