DOCTORS' PAY TO DOUBLE, STUDY PREDICTS

Doctors' pay will almost double by the end of the decade, when the average physician will have gross earnings of $458,000, predicts a study by the Partnership on Health Care and Employment, a nonpartisan organization of 200 large, medium, and small employers.The total share of health spending paid to physicians will rise from 23 percent in 1991 to almost 28 by 2000, according to the study.