Geplaatst: 7 apr 2006 08:52 - Gewijzigd: 7 apr 2006 08:52

Fewer doctors providing charity care

WASHINGTON - The percentage of physicians who provide free care to the poor has dropped over the past decade, signaling a growing problem for the uninsured, a survey suggests.

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About three-quarters of physicians provided charity care in the mid-1990s, compared with about two-thirds now, according to a study being released last week by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The numbers have declined across all major specialties. The highest rate of free care, 78.8 percent, comes from surgeons, perhaps because many of these doctors treat uninsured patients in emergency rooms.

Just over 60 percent of pediatricians provided free care, the lowest rate among the specialties. That could be because children are more likely than adults to have insurance coverage.

The president of the American Medical Association said he was not surprised by the findings. Dr. J. Edward Hill, a family physician from Mississippi, said doctors are committed to providing charity care, but many are constrained by time and finances. He noted that the average doctor completing residency has about $119,000 in debt. „Charity care is not the solution to our health coverage problems in this country”, Hill said. „Maybe this will help wake up everybody so they understand we’ve got to solve the problem of almost 46 million people without (insurance) coverage.”

The study said 81 percent of doctors with their own practice or with a two-person office provide some charity care. The percentage of doctors providing charity care drops to 66 percent when they practice with 11 to 50 other physicians. It drops even further, to 62 percent, when physicians practice in a group of more than 50 physicians. (AP)