Physicians for a National Health Program
Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) is an advocacy organization of more than 20,000 American physicians, medical students, and health professionals that supports a universal, comprehensive single-payer national health insurance program. Since being co-founded in 1987 by Dr. David Himmelstein and Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, PNHP has advocated for reform in the U.S. health care system. PNHP is the only national physician organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to implementing a single-payer national health program. The organization works to educate physicians and other health professionals about the benefits of a single-payer system, including fewer administrative costs and affording health insurance for the millions of Americans who have none. Its members and physician activists work toward a single-payer national health program in their communities. Additionally, PNHP performs ground-breaking research on the health crisis and the need for fundamental reform, coordinates speakers and forums, participates in town hall meetings and debates, contributes scholarly articles to peer-reviewed medical journals, and appears regularly on national television and news programs advocating for a single-payer system.[1]
The group is best known for its influential proposals for national health insurance, which have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine,[2] JAMA,[3] and the American Journal of Public Health.[4]
The group is also known for its members' substantial contributions to scientific research on the uninsured, health system economics and international health systems. Members such as David Himmelstein, Steffie Woolhandler, Marcia Angell and Arnold Relman have contributed articles to major peer-reviewed journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine (of which Angell and Relman are former editors-in-chief), JAMA, Health Affairs, and The American Journal of Medicine.[5] Quentin Young was president of the organization from 1991 to 1993.[6]
See also
References
- Frumkin, Howard; Himmelstein, David; Nelson, Mark; Woolhandler, Steffie (July 8, 1987). "Health care for all is a public responsibility". The New York Times. p. A26.
Woolhandler, Steffie; Himmelstein, David U. (1987). "Physicians for a National Health Program". International Journal of Health Services. 17 (4): 703–706. doi:10.2190/C343-W933-786Q-1R3T. ISSN 0020-7314. PMID 3121526. - Himmelstein, David U.; Woolhandler, Steffie (January 12, 1989). "A national health program for the United States. A physicians' proposal". New England Journal of Medicine. 320 (2): 102–108. doi:10.1056/NEJM198901123200206. PMID 2911282.
- Woolhandler, Steffie; Himmelstein, David U.; Angell, Marcia; Young, Quentin D. (August 13, 2003). "Proposal of the Physicians' Working Group for Single-Payer National Health Insurance". JAMA. 290 (6): 798–805. doi:10.1001/jama.290.6.798. PMID 12915433.
- Gaffney, Adam; Woolhandler, Steffie; Angell, David U.; Himmelstein (June 2016). "Moving Forward From the Affordable Care Act to a Single-Payer System". American Journal of Public Health. 106 (6): 987–988. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.303157. PMC 4880224. PMID 27148891.
- Himmelstein, D. U.; Thorne, D.; Warren, E.; Woolhandler, S. (2009). "Medical Bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a National Study". The American Journal of Medicine. 122 (8): 741–746. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2009.04.012. PMID 19501347. See full text.
- Young, Q D (1993-07-01). "Health care reform: a new public health movement". American Journal of Public Health. 83 (7): 945–946. doi:10.2105/AJPH.83.7.945. ISSN 0090-0036. PMC 1694777. PMID 8328613.