PRINCETON, NJ – A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that 63 percent of physicians surveyed support a health reform proposal that includes both a public option and traditional private insurance.

An even larger majority – 73 percent of physicians surveyed – support an entirely public health system, while 27 percent support a private-only option that would provide subsidies for low-income individuals to purchase private insurance.

“There should be no confusion about where doctors stand in the debate over expanding health insurance coverage: They want reform,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “This survey reveals important information about the perspective of physicians on issues central to the health reform debate. Policy makers should listen to their doctors.”

Researchers Salomeh Keyhani, MD, and Alex Federman, MD, from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, queried 2,130 physicians about a range of options for expanding health insurance coverage. They also examined physician views on the possibility of Medicare expansion and found that 58 percent support expanding Medicare eligibility to those between the ages of 55 and 64.

“We analyzed the data in multiple ways to understand physician opinion on health reform,” said Keyhani. “We found that no matter how you sliced the data, physicians demonstrated majority support for a public health insurance option, regardless of their type of practice or where they live.”

The survey also explored physician views in comparing Medicare to private insurance. A majority found Medicare to be better or the same as private insurance in decision-making autonomy (60 percent) and in ease of obtaining needed services (57 percent). Overall, 46 percent of physicians who saw patients covered by Medicare in the past five years consider their experiences with private insurance better than traditional Medicare when it comes to payment, administrative issues and timeliness of reimbursement.

“These results give voice to individual physicians in the national discussion about health reform,” said Federman. “Most often we hear the opinions of special interest groups rather than doctors themselves, but we know that Americans want to hear the opinions of doctors like those who treat them. This study lets us hear the unfiltered views of physicians on key elements of health reform and should be useful for lawmakers.”