A study looks at whether religious physicians provide more charity care:
Physicians who described themselves as religious were only slightly more likely to have done charity care compared to all those surveyed (31 vs. 25%). What is even more surprising is that physicians who described themselves as atheist or agnostic were slightly more likely to have done charity care than those who described themselves as religious (35 vs. 31%).
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Some problems:
Charity care is not the same as government funded care. It is charity care for the doc if he provides it volunarily without expectation of compensation. If he is being reimbursed by the “free clinic” or government, it isn’t a charity service by the doc.
Psychiatrists are of course highest on this list because this survey doesn’t make that distinction, and the chronically mentally ill are cared for at mental health clinics and state hospitals.
Which brings up the flaw in the assertion about athiests/ agostics. Past surverys show psychiatrists much more likely to be athiest than the general population of physicians. That alone could account for the so called “findings”.
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