Doctors Want National Insurance Plan
A new study has found that 59% of physicians in the United States now support a national health insurance plan. This is a departure from the sentiments discovered by a similar study conducted five years ago when only 49% of doctors supported nationalized healthcare. A national health insurance plan would mean that the government would create a federally administered insurance fund that would guarantee healthcare for all citizens. As a result, a national insurance plan would most likely either eradicate or drastically reduce the presence of private, for-profit insurers. In this post, we’ll explain the details of the study and discuss more about the implications of a national health insurance plan.
The Study Explained
The survey polled 2,193 doctors across the country, finding that nearly 60% support “government legislation to establish national health insurance,” 32% oppose it, and 9% were neutral. The support for national health insurance seems to have increased in recent years among physicians. In fact, the findings indicated that support for a centralized health plan has increased across all specialties. The researchers conducting the study said doctors often cite the reason that the existing fragmented healthcare system is a barrier to optimal patient care. Here is the breakdown of support for a national insurance plan by physician specialty:
- Psychiatrists – 83%
- Pediatric sub-specialists – 71%
- Emergency room physicians – 69%
- Pediatricians – 65%
- Internists – 64%
- Family care doctors – 60%
- General surgeons – 55%
The Implications
Experts conjecture that doctors increasingly support a nationalized healthcare plan because they see it as a remedy for the shortcomings of the existing system. For example, 47 million Americans are uninsured, and it is estimated that another 50 million are insufficiently insured. Healthcare costs continue to outstrip inflation, rising at a rate of about 7% per year. These issues concern doctors, many feel, and form an impediment to the provision of the highest-quality care possible.