Hospitals, medical practices think Affordable Care Act will only be partially repealed, according to Reaction Data

Republicans in Congress have begun to unveil some of the broad-brush details of their plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, but according to new data from research firm Reaction, 74 percent of medical practices think that former President Obama's signature healthcare law will only be partially repealed.

The data, which examined independent practices, hospital-owned practices, standalone hospitals and integrated delivery networks, revealed that only 16 percent of practices felt the ACA would be repealed completely. Eleven percent said it will be left primarily intact.

When asked what will likely replace the ACA, 47 percent said it would be supplanted by an open-market system. About 26 percent said it would be replaced with "something more affordable" or with more competitive pricing, while 24 percent simply said it would be replaced with "something better." Eighteen percent said it would be replaced with something worse.

[Also: Possible GOP replacement for Obamacare includes no individual mandate, shifts Medicaid to states]

Reaction's survey also asked its respondents to predict how well Tom Price will perform in his new role as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. On a scale of zero to seven, independent practices ranked Price the highest, at 4.83. IDN-affiliated hospitals gave him the lowest marks, at 3.41. Generally, the larger the physician count, the lower marks Price garnered.

Broken down by state, North Dakota and Nevada ranked Price the highest, followed closely by Rhode Island; Vermont gave him the lowest marks.

Respondents were also asked about their confidence in Seema Verma, President Trump's pick to helm the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Again, independent practices ranked her the highest, at 4.51 on a seven-point scale, with IDN-affiliated hospitals giving her the lowest score at 3.41.

Twitter: @JELagasse