Most CPA executives do not support a major government role in health care reform, according to a new survey.
The survey, by the American Institute of CPAs and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills Kenan-Flagler Business School, found that only 12 percent of the 1,093 CPA executives polled indicate that the government should be a major participant in health care reform. The poll included CPAs who hold leadership positions as chief executives, chief operating officers, chief financial officers and controllers.
Twenty-six percent of the respondents feel that government should only be a limited participant in health reform, while 46 percent indicated they believe that governmental involvement should be reduced.
"Results from the survey are particularly interesting because the primary respondents are executives in small- and medium-sized business, a group that had been identified as potential beneficiaries of health-care reform," said Mark Lang, an accounting professor at UNC Kenan-Flagler. "While they identify health care costs as a major concern, fears of a rising deficit and increased regulation appear to outweigh benefits of governmental involvement."
Ninety-two percent of the respondents offer subsidized health care to employees and only 2 percent have considered dropping it, yet the majority of them support mandatory health care coverage by employees. Most have been using some combination of increased employee contributions and reduced benefits to deal with rising health care costs.
