Supplementary Table 1
Physicians' Willingness to Accept New Medicare and Private Patients by Specialty of the Physician, 1997-2001


Note: This table shows that surgical specialists' willingness to accept new Medicare patients fell from 1997 to 2001. The proportion of surgical specialists accreting all new Medicare patients fell and the proportion accepting no new Medicare patients grew. Physicians' willingness to accept all new private patients fell over the same time period. Primary care physicians' willingness to accept new Medicare and private patients also fell from 1997 to 2001.

  1997 1999 2001
Accepting All New Medicare Patients
   Primary Care Physicians
66.3%
63.9%
61.7%*
   Surgical Specialists
81.5
76.7
73.0*
   Medical Specialists
76.3
77.2
78.9*
Accepting No New Medicare Patients
   Primary Care Physicians
4.4
4.5
5.0
   Surgical Specialists
1.6
2.5
3.6*
   Medical Specialists
3.1
3.3
2.7
Accepting All New Private Patients
   Primary Care Physicians
63.8
64.2
60.3*
   Surgical Specialists
78.5
75.8
73.7*
   Medical Specialists
72.4
73.4
73.2
Accepting No New Private Patients
   Primary Care Physicians
5.5
5.3
6.9*
   Surgical Specialists
1.4
1.2
1.7
   Medical Specialists
3.4
3.6
4.9*

* Change from previous round is statistically significant at p<.05.
DATA SOURCE: HSC Community Tracking Study Household Survey.