Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post for JAMA News Forum on the role of health professionals in educating the public about state health exchanges. This week, someone asked me whether health professionals who oppose “Obamacare” should have to tell their patients and the public about the exchanges and whether they should be able to voice their opposition to the law.

My answer is: It depends.

A recent survey of physicians by LocumTenens.com, an online job site for physicians, physician assistants and advanced practice nurses revealed that the physicians are not knowledgeable about the state exchanges. In my conversations with physicians and nurses, I’ve found that both groups are woefully uninformed about what’s in the ACA. If the practitioner doesn’t know what’s in the law, then what is the opposition based upon? If someone who opposes the law is truly knowledgeable about what’s in it, how it’s being implemented and what the pros and cons are for the public’s health, then perhaps.

But first and foremost, all health professionals have an ethical responsibility to inform their uninsured patients about the opportunities for obtaining health care coverage. How could you ethically not tell an uninsured patient who has been unable to afford the surgery he needs or get an important diagnostic test that he could qualify for subsidized coverage through a state or federal exchange?