Most doctors favor universal healthcare

INDIANAPOLIS, March 31 (UPI) -- Fifty-nine percent of U.S. doctors support government legislation to establish national health insurance, with 32 percent opposing it, a survey reveals.

A similar survey in 2002 by Indiana University found 49 percent of physicians supporting national health insurance and 40 percent opposing universal healthcare.

The nationwide survey of 2,200 physicians, conducted by the Indiana University School of Medicine's Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research, found 83 percent of psychiatrists, 69 percent of emergency medicine physicians, 65 percent of pediatricians and 64 percent of internists favor government action to establish national health coverage.

There are more than 800,000 U.S. doctors so the 10 percent increase in support for national health insurance represents at least 80,000 physicians who have changed their minds about the issue, study authors Dr. Aaron E. Carroll and and Dr. Ronald T. Ackermann said in a statement.

"Many claim to speak for physicians and represent their views. We asked doctors directly and found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, most doctors support national health insurance," Carroll said, adding that "more and more, physicians are turning to national health insurance as a solution to this problem."

The findings are published in the April issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.