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Doctors Support National Health Care
Support for national health care seems to be growing, at least among doctors.
A study conducted by Indiana University shows that a majority of U.S. physicians support a national health care system. That number has grown 10% since 2002, when the university initially conducted the study.
The survey, released Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, seeks to follow up on attitudes of American physicians toward universal health care. Approximately 5,000 doctors were asked two questions: Whether or not they supported government legislation to establish national health insurance; and if they supported achieving coverage through more incremental reform.
Among the participants, 59% supported legislation, and 55% supported achieving universal health care through incremental care. Although 14% of doctors rejected adopting a national health care system, they supported incremental changes to the current system.
By specialty, the greatest support for national health insurance was found among psychiatrists, followed by doctors in pediatric subspecialties. Support was lowest among radiologists.
"As doctors, we find that our patients suffer because of increasing deductibles, copayments, and restrictions on patient care," said Ronald T. Ackermann, MD, MPH, assistant professor medicine and associate director of the Indiana University School of Medicine's Center for Health Policy and Professional Research, in a press release. "More and more, physicians are turning to national health insurance as a solution to this problem."
The topic of universal health care and whether it should be mandated for all has been a controversial topic in the campaign. If you're interested in knowing the differences among the candidates, check out our comparison chart. If you'd like more detail, that's available in the candidates' platforms.
Valarie Basheda
Managing Editor, WebMD
Reported by Rebecca Noelle Bates.
A study conducted by Indiana University shows that a majority of U.S. physicians support a national health care system. That number has grown 10% since 2002, when the university initially conducted the study.
The survey, released Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, seeks to follow up on attitudes of American physicians toward universal health care. Approximately 5,000 doctors were asked two questions: Whether or not they supported government legislation to establish national health insurance; and if they supported achieving coverage through more incremental reform.
Among the participants, 59% supported legislation, and 55% supported achieving universal health care through incremental care. Although 14% of doctors rejected adopting a national health care system, they supported incremental changes to the current system.
By specialty, the greatest support for national health insurance was found among psychiatrists, followed by doctors in pediatric subspecialties. Support was lowest among radiologists.
"As doctors, we find that our patients suffer because of increasing deductibles, copayments, and restrictions on patient care," said Ronald T. Ackermann, MD, MPH, assistant professor medicine and associate director of the Indiana University School of Medicine's Center for Health Policy and Professional Research, in a press release. "More and more, physicians are turning to national health insurance as a solution to this problem."
The topic of universal health care and whether it should be mandated for all has been a controversial topic in the campaign. If you're interested in knowing the differences among the candidates, check out our comparison chart. If you'd like more detail, that's available in the candidates' platforms.
Valarie Basheda
Managing Editor, WebMD
Reported by Rebecca Noelle Bates.
2 Comments:
This study is 100% Bunk! The doctors who did this study also conducted one in 2002 and found that the majority of doctors did not want national health care, the problem with this is that the 2 question surveys drastically differ in there 2nd question. I found this article, 60% of Physicians Surveyed Oppose Switching to a National Health Care Plan, It's worth a read.
All I hope is that they take the time to inform us how much our tax increases will be to cover the new system. While I maintain that the current system is broken, the one payer system in other countries has also proven to be broken. With higher taxes and less medical care because there are not enough dollars to go around I am still not sure everyone is going to be happy.
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