Last spring, an Arizona physician took a cross-country bicycle trip where he solicited Americans' thoughts on the Affordable Care Act. While he received many angry responses, he felt as though he could address the concerns he was hearing, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Paul Gordon, MD, took the trip and "listening tour" while on sabbatical from the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he teaches. Traveling from Washington, D.C., to Seattle, he at times was joined by his wife, his adult children, a couple he'd befriended in Arizona and a medical student, Laurel Gray, who treated the trip as a research project.
Here are four takeaways from the trip, as stated in the report.
1. Dr. Gordon found that Americans are angry at the government, at the healthcare system and at fellow citizens who gained coverage through the ACA.
2. Americans complained about a myriad of issues, such as rising insurance bills, and at least one person alleged that the ACA encourages Americans to take advantage of the healthcare system.
3. When Dr. Gordon asked people to think about how they would fix the healthcare system, they didn't provide solutions.
4. At the end of the trip, Dr. Gordon concluded that physicians could help Americans better understand the nation's healthcare system.
For more on this story, read Noam N. Levey's full report in the Los Angeles Times.
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