Doctors overwhelmingly back a public option
We’ve seen a lot of anecdotal evidence regarding where doctors stand on health-care reform, with individual practitioners taking various stands. While the usually conservative American Medical Association (using “conservative” in the traditional sense of the word) has surprisingly come out in favor of the House bill, which includes a public option, it was uncertain whether that sentiment accurately reflected the opinion of the medical community.
Apparently it does. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored a carefully designed survey of American physicians, with more than 2,000 responding. The results were telling:
“Overall, a majority of physicians (62.9%) supported the public-private option while 27.3% supported a private-only coverage options and 9.6% supported a public-only coverage option. Support for the inclusion of a public option was demonstrated across all demographic characteristics, specialties, practice locations (census division or urban vs. rural setting) and practice types.”
Taken together, 72.5 percent of U.S. doctors supported inclusion of a public option, a pretty overwhelming show of support. They know the issue well, they know the impact on their practice and their patients, and they support it.
Apparently they aren’t worried that the federal government will interpose itself between patient and physician, as opponents claim. They don’t put much if any credence in the idea that “death panels” will tell them they can’t treat their patients appropriately.
In fact, doctors rated government-run Medicare slightly better than private insurance both for the ease of obtaining needed services for their patients and autonomy in medical decision-making.
The strong support for a public option is particularly interesting given that 46.4 percent of doctors rank their overall experience with private insurance higher than they do Medicare, while only 21.2 percent prefer dealing with Medicare. That is largely because private insurance pays better than Medicare, testament to government’s power to hold down cost.
The fact that doctors overwhelmingly support a public option despite acknowledging it may not be in their own best interest ought to tell you something.
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404 comments Add your comment
Night Train
September 16th, 2009
8:10 am
First!
bob
September 16th, 2009
8:11 am
Are these the same doctors that Obama said cut of limbs of patients to make a higher profit ?
Peadawg
September 16th, 2009
8:12 am
Before this blog even gets started, I want to make one thing clear. DO NOT call me or anyone on here racist just because we disagree w/ Obama’s policies. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Thanks,
Have a great day blogging!
Turd Ferguson
September 16th, 2009
8:14 am
Public option, private option etc doesnt matter. This OboboCare is just a bad idea.
Peadawg
September 16th, 2009
8:14 am
Bookman, please let my post go through. After reading Mrs. Tucker’s blog, I think it is very important.
TaxPayer
September 16th, 2009
8:18 am
using “conservative” in the traditional sense of the word
I hope you mean as in not associated with Republican’s use of the word, such as compassionate conservative or fiscal conservative, etc. When they use the word, I have to believe that it’s “opposite day”. It’s the only way to make it fit with reality.
Jay
September 16th, 2009
8:19 am
It’s up, Peadawg. Can’t tell why it got held, but it’s been freed now.
jt
September 16th, 2009
8:20 am
Stomp your feet and cry racism all you want.
There will be NO public option.
As per my last post downstairs, President Obama is pulling off a “bait and switch”.
Mandatory Insurance is what they were after the whole time. You Obamanites were played.
The “NO CHILD LEFT WITH A DIME ACT” will not include a public option.
Peadawg
September 16th, 2009
8:20 am
Thanks Jay.
Night Train
September 16th, 2009
8:21 am
In talking to the few doctors I personally know, it seems that their number one complaint is having to run so many test just because the patient has a ‘cough’.
“The patient does not smoke, is 25 years old, in excellent overall health and complains of a cough that started two days ago. I have to order every test known to man just to eliminate the one in a million chance he has pneumonia or cancer when I know it is just a cold or nasal drip. Or I take the chance of losing everything.”
This is the main problem with health care. Who pays the bill is secondary to all the needless tests being prescribed.
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
September 16th, 2009
8:25 am
Speaking on behalf of the special interests?
On behalf of big business?
Interesting.
But anyway, We The People reject it.
Enough said.
Doggone/GA
September 16th, 2009
8:27 am
“But anyway, We The People reject it.”
Proof please
Peadawg
September 16th, 2009
8:28 am
“Proof please”
Look at the poles please.
Joe
September 16th, 2009
8:29 am
Continuing attempts by the Obama loving left to try to dupe the American public. Lets call it what it truely is. Not public option, but big government option.
Doggone/GA
September 16th, 2009
8:30 am
“Who pays the bill is secondary to all the needless tests being prescribed.”
This is always going to be a problem. Always. Because a test is “unnecessary” if it turns out all you have is a chest cold. But if it does find evidence of cancer, then it suddenly becomes a prudent and necessary test after all.
And if the test isn’t done, and you DO turn out to have cancer…then the Doctor is the one on the hook for NOT having the test done.
stands for decibels
September 16th, 2009
8:30 am
I hope some of the regulars manage to check out the linked PDF of the survey summary. I found “Support for Allowing Adults Ages 55 to 64 to Buy Into the Current Medicare Program” to pretty impressive, 58.3% overall among physicians.
This buy-in option was something Max Bacchus used to support; I’d sure like to see it in the final bill.
Gale
September 16th, 2009
8:30 am
Night Train @ 8:21. The extreme testing is one of the reasons I prefer to use a neighborhood clinic when I need something. They don’t run a million tests. They treat the symptom. If I return more than once with the same symptom, they refer me to a different doctor. Now, if I didn’t have to also jump through hoops to find a doctor participating in my ins plan, my life would be easier. And from the other side of the desk, the doctor’s back office, single payer and electronic medical records would cut a lot of cost.
TaxPayer
September 16th, 2009
8:30 am
The lineup for Wednesday’s hearing includes a woman whose father died in 2007 at age 59 after his bone marrow transplant was delayed by a dispute with BlueCross BlueShield of Montana.
William G. Ackley, who was an elementary school principal, suffered for 20 years from a form of leukemia. In April 2006, as his condition deteriorated, the insurer sent Ackley a letter saying it would not pay for the transplant because “the proposed service does not meet your policy’s definition of ‘Necessary.’ ” A peer reviewer found that under the circumstances the treatment was “investigational” — in other words, BCBSMT Medical Director Mary Sims wrote the following month, not proven effective for his disease.
A series of appeals and denials ensued. Ackley’s family asked a state regulator to get involved. Meanwhile, the National Marrow Donor Program wrote a letter to the insurer asserting that the proposed treatment was “neither investigational nor experimental” but rather was the only treatment for Ackley’s disease “known to be curative.”
That sounds a lot like a death panel within the insurance company. It’s as though they wanted this person to just die.
stands for decibels
September 16th, 2009
8:31 am
Ok, I avoided going all Beavis and snickering at “Robert Wood Johnson.”
But then I get this…
Look at the poles please.
Have mercy!
Doggone/GA
September 16th, 2009
8:32 am
“Look at the poles please”
Flag or global?
Finn McCool
September 16th, 2009
8:32 am
It is not decent that people avoid seeking help for want of insurance. It is not decent that people go broke trying to get well. You know it and I know it. Time to fix it.
Garrison Keillor
Joe
September 16th, 2009
8:34 am
Just like the libturd you are Jay… Your headline is so misleading. All doctors don’t support this new tax on the American people. Just because the leadership of the AMA syas it supports this certainly don’t mean all do. I know a dozen or so doctors and none of them support it. They realize that there hands will be tied as to the patients they will have because the government will force their will upon them… This is like saying that all AARP members support this because their leadership does….
USinUK
September 16th, 2009
8:34 am
“Look at the poles please”
what do people from Warsaw have to do with it?
Elliot Garcia
September 16th, 2009
8:36 am
None of the doctors I asked are for it. This is just more propaganda by Jay.
Brad Steel
September 16th, 2009
8:36 am
Of course doctors support health care reform. The status quo sucks.
The only contingency that doesn’t support health care reform are partisan hacks and their gullible, loud-mouth flock of dopes.
PinkoNeoConLibertarian
September 16th, 2009
8:37 am
“Look at the poles please.”
What type of medical coverage do they have in Poland?
Joe
September 16th, 2009
8:37 am
By the way. Who cares what doctors want. The people don’t want it!!!!
Truth
September 16th, 2009
8:38 am
I bet those doctors change their minds when the govt is late paying them. I have a buddy that owns an ambulance company and medicare is always months behind in paying them. Then they were 3 days late on paying their taxes because of lost mail and they were shutdown until payment was received. Govt can be as late as they want paying you, but you had better not be late paying them!
Doggone/GA
September 16th, 2009
8:39 am
“All doctors don’t support this new tax ”
Please refer to a dictionary. “Overwhelming” does not mean ALL.
Nash TENN
September 16th, 2009
8:41 am
Will anyone comment on the claim of built in cost to your monthly premium for those who do not have insurance. Should we examine this to determine if a public option would lower the cost of pirvate insurers and take that hidden cost from those paying for private insurance?
USinUK
September 16th, 2009
8:41 am
Joe –
“Just because the leadership of the AMA syas it supports this certainly don’t mean all do.”
that’s right … you just ignore the post in which Jay talks about the doctors that were POLLED by the AMA, not the AMA leadership … ninny.
ByteMe
September 16th, 2009
8:42 am
@PinkoNeoConLibertarian: pretty sure it’s nationalized in Poland there as well.
As for the folks saying “the people don’t want it”, the polls say differently. People want it once the word “option” is explained as meaning “optional”. Which says more about the state of our education system than anything.
Peadawg
September 16th, 2009
8:42 am
Cute guys. Real cute.
GEORGE AMERICAN
September 16th, 2009
8:42 am
NOT MY DOCTOR. HE’S SMART. NOT LIKE THE STUPID DOCTORS IN THIS RICHARD WOODIE JOHNSON SURVEY.
MY DOCTOR IS NO PRO-GOVERNMENT, SOCIALIST FLUNKIE!!!
HE’S PART OF THE SOLUTION IN STOPPING OBARMA’S COMMIE REVOLUTION!!!
Peadawg
September 16th, 2009
8:45 am
“People want it once the word “option” is explained as meaning “optional”. ”
The “public option” may be optional but I don’t believe the majority of people want to be REQUIRED to have some kind health insurance.
TaxPayer
September 16th, 2009
8:45 am
So, what does the future hold for those looking for healthcare.
More than four in 10 employers in a recent… survey said they will raise deductibles, copayments and out-of-pocket maximums due to the economic crisis. Some employers might raise doctor visit copayments by $5. Others might no longer provide 100 percent coverage for in-network services, opting instead to introduce some level of coinsurance to encourage workers to be more aware of the cost of services. Deductibles for individual and family coverage are expected to increase by $50 to $100 or more among some employers.
Well, that’s not so bad. I mean, we’re used to that yearly change by now, aren’t we. What else.
Employers are continuing their push to improve the health of employees and their families. In addition to continuing the focus on wellness communication, employers are offering workers (and, in some cases, spouses) more incentives like gift cards, cash and discounted premiums for undergoing a health risk assessment or participating in smoking cessation, weight management or fitness programs. They are also giving workers access to onsite health coaching as well as using health service providers to deliver Web-based and telephonic coaching.
And, when these forms of incentives fail because people have their rights and they’re free to do as they please and eat what they want and smoke and not exercise, etc., then what. Will they start charging sur-charges for that behavior that they deem to be bad. But wait, I think some already do. Why, right here in the state of Georgia, the state employees that smoke will see their smoking surcharge increase from $40 to $60 dollars. It’s socialism but I guess we’lll live with it as long as the government is not involved. They’ll just do untold ‘things’ to us like subject us to death panels and tell us what they’ll cover and tell us how to live our lives. Well, at least with our employer, we have choices, right. Right!
Some employers plan to reduce the number of health plan options they offer to workers. As more employers consolidate and change their health plans and networks for 2010, some employees might have to change physicians or pay higher out-of-network costs.
Maniac
September 16th, 2009
8:45 am
It depends on which Doctor, AMA has been losing members and they support ObamaCare. The pharmacy industry supports ObamaCare because they can sell more medication and make more profits in volume, so who cares Jay. The government does not need to be involved in my medical care. Its up to me, you liberals don’t get it.
The government wants control of your life. If they can give you care, they can take care away……..
USinUK
September 16th, 2009
8:45 am
Peadawg –
“Cute guys. Real cute”
we keeeeed, we keeeeeed …
Curious Observer
September 16th, 2009
8:46 am
Of course doctors want the public option. After all, Uncle Sam always pays. He’s slow, but he pays. Insurance companies, on the other hand, negotiate charges down to the point that a doctor doesn’t even receive the net cost of the treatment he offers. That allows insurance companies to pocket most of the premiums charged to insureds.
But more to the point: if there’s no public option in the bill presented by the Baucus group, I’d just as soon see no reform at all, because the omission of such a feature will mean there’s no reform. The simple fact is this: No healthcare cooperative has ever succeeded. All the rumored Baucus bill will do is to enrich insurance companies by providing them with more customers to fleece. And such features as prohibiting preexisting conditions clauses will merely drive up the premiums of existing insureds. Sen. Rockefeller knows this; that’s one of the reasons he’s come out against the Baucus plan already.
So if the insurance conglomerate-bought Baucus plan goes down, as it should, then real Democrats should simply not vote for a Blue Dog in the next round of elections. If we’re going to have a Republican senator representing a state, we might as well have one with an R after his name, rather than a phony-baloney self-styled Democrat who’s Republican in all but name.
Facts Please
September 16th, 2009
8:47 am
I am here to tell you that doctors do not support the public option. The polls are fabricated. Why in the world would a doctor support something that would make his job harder then it already is? Why would he/she spend all those years in medical school to be told where he should practice. Ration medicine, I dont know a single doctor that supports this public option and I know pleney of them. Im a nurse.
Yahump
September 16th, 2009
8:47 am
You are an idiot. A survey was just published saying 45% of doctors would quit if this government monstrosity was passed. Where are all the doctors going to come from to see these people? You should take a basic economics course on supply and demand. I want to see Jay Bookman going to the post office for his medical treatment. RIGHT…you and all your limousine liberals with have their private doctors in Nantuckett.
Facts Please
September 16th, 2009
8:47 am
I am here to tell you that doctors do not support the public option. The polls are fabricated. Why in the world would a doctor support something that would make his job harder then it already is? Why would he/she spend all those years in medical school to be told where he should practice. Ration medicine, I dont know a single doctor that supports this public option and I know plenty of them. Im a nurse.
Jimmy
September 16th, 2009
8:48 am
BSteel@8:36am-I find your comments offensive & racist!
Brad Steel
September 16th, 2009
8:48 am
“And I know for sure. Some of my best friends are doctors.”
Night Train
September 16th, 2009
8:49 am
Off Topic…
“Michael Moore says he made his latest documentary, “Capitalism:A Love Story,” as though it were his last.”
Has he ever really made a TRUE documentary? Everything I’ve seen him do was propaganda for the democrats.
TaxPayer
September 16th, 2009
8:50 am
Elliot Garcia
September 16th, 2009
8:36 am
None of the doctors I asked are for it. This is just more propaganda by Jay.
I know what you mean. I asked Drs. Gingrey and Broun an neither of them were for it.
Doggone/GA
September 16th, 2009
8:50 am
“Cute guys. Real cute”
Yes…and now to go back to what you were trying to say: YOU made the statement that the people don’t want a public option. YOU provide the proof. “read the polls” is not good enough. It’s up to YOU to defend your statement. If you don’t, or can’t, then we’ll know EXACTLY where that “information” came from…won’t we?
Doggone/GA
September 16th, 2009
8:53 am
“I am here to tell you that doctors do not support the public option. The polls are fabricated.”
Proof please
Normal
September 16th, 2009
8:53 am
Joe, I got as far as “libturd”, then quit reading, try again, but this time with better manners than that. After all, you might have had a good argument.
Jimmy62
September 16th, 2009
8:53 am
I bet 6 in 10 real estate agents thought it was a good idea to encourage every American to own a home. Look where that got us.