Doctors support universal health care: survey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than half of U.S. doctors now favor switching to a national health care plan and fewer than a third oppose the idea, according to a survey published on Monday.

The study leader told reporters "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.


www.reuters.com...






www.bmj.com...
Shows that the United States does in fact pay the most on average. Of course what is the quality of these doctors is a whole other question altogether. I would argue that health care in general within the US on an average is way below that of canada and europeans. As supported by more reports:


dll.umaine.edu...

and

www.photius.com...

I see so much of this -- the notion that if the U.S. had universal health coverage, it would cost doctors money or make them work longer hours, or that it would put the government "in charge" of national health care system.


I know this topic has been discussed on ATS ad naseum.
What I advocate, called universal health insurance. In this scenario, nothing changes to the way doctors do business; the only difference is that every U.S. citizen has health insurance from the government.This may sound expensive at first , because there is a tendency to compare the cost this plan with the cost of insuring every American with the regulated market insurance we have now ,which we all know can be very expensive. However, if insurance were provided by the government, the government would seek only to recoup the cost of treatment and administering the program.

What I fear most is the reason some want universal health care is for the same reason they LOVE HMO's. They can't be sued, or it's so difficult it's generally not worth the hassle.

Don't think doctors are doing you some great favor, they're still looking out for 'numero uno'.





[edit on 1-4-2008 by Master_Wii]

Basically any healthcare system is better than what we have now.

If we had universal healthcare alot of the higher ups would not be getting all the money that the health insurance and pharmacuatical companies are buying them out with.

And I doubt the American doctors care as long as their getting their pay. They don't care about helping people, they are the ones who turn all of those American's away because they can't afford it after all

So the figures basically show that Americans pay on average 2 to 4 times what europe and our canadian counterparts pay ,but also receive worse service for this higher price!!! Yet the doctors are paid better here??? So in a nut shell I have a better chance of dying here in the US, if I get sick than say in Canada or France. Correct me if Im wrong. Yet I will be paying more for this death.

reply to post by Master_Wii


But what about the artificial price inflation currently seen under the current system? A $300 ER payment for just walking through the doors makes no sense - your scheme would have the government paying the hospitals $300 for every citizen who walks through the doors. That doesn't make much sense.

Just have all the hospitals funded by taxes. That way the government can step in and make sure the hospitals are running correctly. As long as the budget is reasonable, that way would ensure the best health care possible, and weed out the ridiculous charge inflation the insurance companies currently charge.