New England Journal Of Medicine: Doctors OVERWHELMINGLY Want Public Option (At Least)!

Overall, a majority of physicians (62.9%) supported public and private options (see Panel A of graph). Only 27.3% supported offering private options only. Respondents — across all demographic subgroups, specialties, practice locations, and practice types — showed majority support (>57.4%) for the inclusion of a public option (see Table 1). Primary care providers were the most likely to support a public option (65.2%); among the other specialty groups, the “other” physicians — those in fields that generally have less regular direct contact with patients, such as radiology, anesthesiology, and nuclear medicine — were the least likely to support a public option, though 57.4% did so. Physicians in every census region showed majority support for a public option, with percentages in favor ranging from 58.9% in the South to 69.7% in the Northeast. Practice owners were less likely than nonowners to support a public option (59.7% vs. 67.1%, P<0.001), but a majority still supported it. Finally, there was also majority support for a public option among AMA members (62.2%).



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On one of the most critical elements — expansion of coverage — our study of a national sample of physicians showed that a clear majority support a combined public–private approach to expanding health insurance. We found that physicians’ support for including a public option in the reform package largely mirrors the support revealed in national public polls conducted throughout the spring and summer of this year.1 A similar proportion of physicians also supported the expansion of Medicare to help cover the near-elderly population. Support of public and private options was consistent across a wide range of physicians, including those from the traditionally conservative southern regions of the United States, those with a financial stake in their practice, and members of the AMA — despite that organization’s history of opposition to reform efforts.2 The AMA’s 2009 platform on health care reform originally endorsed an expansion of health insurance through private means.3 But the organization recently came out in support of a House proposal for reform that includes a new public option4 — a position that our data suggest is consistent with the views of its members.