Physicians' Proposal Intro:
Note: As we begin 2015, a new Physicians' Proposal is in the process of being circulated for endorsement. To read the new proposal, visit www.pnhp.org/proposal
The Physicians’ Proposal for National Health Insurance establishes the vision and principles of a single-payer health system for the United States. The document was composed by a distinguished group of physician leaders*, and secured the endorsement of 8,000 physicians by the time of its publication in the August 13, 2003 JAMA.
The text outlines the general structure of the single-payer plan: eligibility and coverage, physician and outpatient care payment, global budgeting of hospitals, the establishment of a national long-term care program, planned capital investment and single-payer financing.
Read the Executive Summary of the Physicians’ Proposal
An Invitation to Endorse the Physicians’ Proposal (pdf)
Endorse the Physicians’ Proposal
View Proposal As Published in JAMA (pdf)
*Members of the Physicians’ Working Group for Single-Payer National Health Insurance:
Marcia Angell, MD
Spokesperson
Past Editor | New England Journal of Medicine
Senior Lecturer in Social Medicine | Harvard Medical School
Quentin Young, MD
Convener
National Coordinator | Physicians for a National Health Program
Past President | American Public Health Association
Joel Alpert, MD
Past President | American Academy of Pediatrics
Ron Anderson, MD
President and CEO | Parkland Health & Hospital System
Peter Beilenson, MD, MPH
Commissioner | Department of Health, Baltimore City
Olveen Carrasquillo, MD, MPH
Advisory Committee Member | National Hispanic Medical Association
Christine Cassell, MD
Past President | American College of Physicians
Elinor Christiansen, MD
Past President | American Medical Women’s Association
Gary Dennis, MD
Past President | National Medical Association
David Himmelstein, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine | Harvard Medical School
Rodney Hood, MD
President | National Medical Association
Edith Rasell, MD, PhD
Minister for Labor Relations and Community Economic Development | United Church of Christ
Helen Rodriguez-Trias, MD (deceased)
Past President | American Public Health Association
Sindhu Srinivas, MD
National President | American Medical Student Association
Gerald Thomson, MD
Past President | American College of Physicians
Walter Tsou, MD, MPH
Past President | American Public Health Association
Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine | The Cambridge Hospital/Harvard Medical School