Majority Of Physicians Back Public Option: Study

A majority of physicians in the United States back the “public option” to healthcare finance reform.

BOSTON, Mass. — A majority of physicians in the United States back the “public option” to healthcare finance reform.

Sixty-three percent of physicians back a proposal that includes both non-profit government finance option and for-profit private health insuance, according to a new study.

That means that 75 percent of physicians support the public option, if the doctors who support a single-payer health finance system are also included.

This finding came ina Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) study published in Monday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

The national poll included 2,130 physicians across America, as well as self-identified members of the American Medical Association.

“Policy makers should listen to their doctors,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The research was performed by Salomeh Keyhani, M.D., M.P.H., and Alex Federman, M.D., M.P.H., from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.