Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 14, 1993 TAG: 9304140231
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
DOCTORS BACK HEALTH REFORMS
Despite reservations, a majority of the nation's physicians back many key elements of President Clinton's emerging health care reform agenda - even if it curtails their income and professional freedom, according to the largest survey yet of American doctors on the issue.And nearly half the doctors polled said that they reluctantly would favor government-imposed limits on medical spending if no other way can be found to control costs, according to the survey by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press.
The support by physicians is good news for the Clinton administration, whose senior advisers have said they think many Americans will get an earful on health-care reform from their personal doctors as the White House promotes the program to Congress and the public.
The plan is to be released in May.
The telephone poll was one of three elements of a Times Mirror survey released Tuesday that gauges the opinions of three separate groups: physicians, doctors in leadership roles and the public.
The survey of practicing physicians found a pervasive mood of pessimism: seven of 10 saying they believe their incomes will fall, eight of 10 expecting to have less freedom to make treatment decisions, and a bare majority saying that they expect the quality of health care for Americans to diminish.
Still, 68 percent said the most important goal of comprehensive reform is to guarantee universal access to medical care, with most willing to achieve that goal by waiting longer for new technologies or by having their patients wait longer for nonemergency treatment.
And 58 percent of the physicians "gave a positive response to managed competition in its entirety," according to Robert C. Toth, project director of the survey, while 41 percent favored a government-run, single-payer system.
Managed competition is the foundation of the plan. Health "alliances," or large consumer purchasing groups, would be set up in most regions of the country to bargain for health insurance plans. In most markets, individuals then could choose from a variety of insurance plans, ranging from health-maintenance organizations to traditional fee-for-service plans.
Under a single-payer plan, such as Canada's, the entire system is operated by the government.
"This is a real opportunity for the administration to sell the plan to the physician community," Andrew Kohut, director of the center, said of the findings. "There's more give in doctors' attitudes than we would have expected with regard to managed competition."