A study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine reports that 59 percent of U.S. physicians support the idea of national health insurance.
The study is the second conducted by Indiana University since 2002 and is based on a 2007 nationwide survey of 2,193 physicians. Since 2002, physicians supporting a single-payer healthcare system have increased 10 percent.
Researchers claim the survey is the largest ever conducted among doctors on healthcare financing reform.
The 2007 survey also found 32 percent of physicians oppose a national health insurance plan, while 9 percent are neutral.
Lead author Aaron Carroll, director of Indiana University's Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research, said "many claim to speak for physicians and reflect their views, (however) contrary to conventional wisdom, most doctors support the government creating national health insurance."
Support among doctors for national health insurance has increased across almost all medical specialties, said study co-author Ronald Ackermann, associate director of the center. "Across the board, more physicians feel that our fragmented and for-profit insurance system is obstructing good patient care, and a majority now support national insurance as the remedy."
According to Ackermann, the concept of national health insurance typically involves a single, federally administered social insurance fund that guarantees healthcare coverage for everyone, much like Medicare currently does for seniors. The plan would eliminate or substantially reduce the role of private insurance, but would still allow patients to go to doctors of their choice.
The highest support for national coverage came from psychiatrists, at 83 percent, followed by pediatric sub-specialists at 71 percent; emergency medicine physicians at 69 percent; general pediatricians at 65 percent; general internists at 64 percent; and family physicians at 60 percent.
Support by surgeons has nearly doubled since the 2002 survey, with 55 percent in favor of national health insurance.
Researchers attributed the increase to physician concern over the growing number of uninsured combined with dramatic increases in healthcare costs.
Last December, the American College of Physicians endorsed a single-payer national health insurance program for the first time. ACP has 124,000 members and is the nation's largest medical specialty group.