Poll: Most doctors favor public option mix

NEW YORK, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Sixty-three percent of U.S. physicians support health reform that includes both a public option and traditional private insurance, a survey indicates.

The survey, conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, also found another 10 percent of the doctors support an entirely public health system, therefore, nearly three out of four physicians nationwide support inclusion of a public option.

The survey of 2,130 physicians, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, says 27 percent support a private-only option that would provide subsidies for low-income individuals to purchase private insurance.

Dr. Salomeh Keyhani and Dr. Alex Federman, both of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, queried physicians from a variety of practice backgrounds and geographic locations across the United States from June 25 to Sept. 3.

While the survey was conducted during different parts of the summer, no statistically significant differences were found.

Fifty-eight percent of the physicians say they support expanding Medicare eligibility to those age 55 to 64, the survey says.