POLL: Americans Believe Doctors Put Medical Needs First

      The majority of Americans believe that physicians prioritize medical needs over insurance rules, according to a new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change. Thirty-six percent of survey respondents said that they "strongly" disagree with the statement, "Doctors are influenced by insurance company rules"; 19% "somewhat" disagree with the statement. African Americans, Hispanics and the poor were more likely than whites and those with higher incomes to believe that doctors are influenced by insurers' rules. Fifty-six percent of African Americans, 54% of Hispanics and 50% of "others" agreed that doctors are influenced by insurers, while only 40% of whites did. Fifty-three percent of those who had incomes below the poverty level said that doctors were influenced by insurers, compared to 40% of those whose incomes were 400% of the poverty level and above. The survey interviewed 32,000 families and 59,000 individuals.

Demographic Divide
      Seventy percent of respondents indicated that they strongly agreed and 22% agreed somewhat that "doctors will put medical needs first," when faced with insurer restrictions. While the majority of respondents trusted doctors to make medically, and not financially, based treatment decision, non-whites were less like to support the statement. Least likely to agree with the statement were "others," 89% of whom believed doctors would put their medical needs first, followed by Hispanics with 90% support. Additionally, 94% of whites and 93% of blacks agreed with the statement. Ninety-three percent of respondents whose incomes were below poverty level agreed that doctors put their medical needs first; respondents in other income levels had similar responses. Study author Lee Hargraves concluded, "Even though the public is split on whether insurers have gone too far, patients express overwhelming confidence in their doctors" (Center for Studying Health System Change release, 6/28).