Choices for not having a doctor

Most of us believe individuals don't have physicians for regular care because of financial constraints. We hear this repeatedly from the media.

But according to a recent survey, financial reasons only account for 10 percent. The vast majority of these patients haven't established a doctor-patient relationship because they believe they don't need them.

The study, published in the July/August issue of the Annals of Family Medicine, is based on a representative sample of more than 9,000 adults. Depending on the study design, it cerainly may have underlying biases that make an accurate assessment possible.

It certainly shows that a vast majority of people make a conscious choice to not have a regular physician. We can only encourage these individuals, but we still need to help the 10 percent that truly cannot afford healthcare.