Doctors’ Group Wants Insurance for All

Jan. 31, 2008 — The nation’s biggest organization of specialty doctors
called on presidential candidates Thursday to back health insurance coverage
for all Americans.
Saying the U.S. health care system is “failing,” the American
College of Physicians (ACP) threw its support behind universal insurance
coverage. It’s also asking candidates for Congress in November to pledge to
pursue new laws guaranteeing access to health care.
Health reform is registering near the top of voters’ concerns so far in the
presidential primaries, according to polls by the Commonwealth Fund and Kaiser
Family Foundation think tanks. But past attempts to guarantee coverage have
consistently been dashed against a resistant Congress, often due in large part
to opposition from doctors’ groups worried about government takeovers of health
care.
“We’ve tried and failed [in] every administration since Truman,” Bob
Doherty, ACP’s chief lobbyist, told reporters. The group represents specialty
internists and primary care doctors.
But Doherty said rapidly rising health costs are pushing politicians toward
reform more strongly than before. The U.S. Census Bureau says 47 million
Americans lack health coverage in 2005, a number that hangs over health reform
debates in the election.
“A new president and Congress may have no choice” but to back
reforms, Doherty said.
Candidates’ Pledge
The ACP asked candidates to pledge support for these efforts:

Laws guaranteeing everyone has access to affordable health coverage.
Coverage should be without regard to their place of employment, place of
residence within the U.S., or income.
Provide every person with access to a primary care physician.
Increased public investment in health information technologies (HIT)
including electronic medical records.
Reduced administrative expenses, including curbs on malpractice
lawsuits.
Increased funding for research.

A report published last month in the Annals of Internal Medicine, an
ACP journal, details how the U.S. lags behind other industrialized countries in
areas ranging from infant mortality to per-capita costs.
“We’re last among the industrialized countries of the world in terms of
providing access to health care,” says David Dale, MD, a professor of
internal medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and president of
the ACP.
The group said it would not endorse any candidate or party. But Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is the only candidate still in the race who advocates
universal coverage as a primary policy goal. Clinton’s plans calls for a
mixture of reforms compelling employers and individuals to purchase
coverage.
All of the Republican candidates have called for deregulation of the
insurance industry and, in some cases, tax breaks that could help families and
individuals purchase their own coverage.
The health plan of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., mandates coverage for children
and would open up government-backed private coverage to the uninsured. But the
plan does not require individuals to have coverage.