Recent Polls - What’s on the minds of Voters

A number of polls have recently been conducted to determine what and how voters are thinking about health care during this election season. Here are a few highlights of the perceptions and views of Americans related to health care, its importance during the election, and what’s important to them as they evaluate the candidates and their health care proposals:

• Health care is a key issue for voters as we move through the primaries into the general election.
  In polling conducted by the Commonwealth Fund during late 2007, 86% of adults age 19 and older said that the candidates’ views on health care reform would play a very important or somewhat important role in their decision about whom to vote for. These results are consistent with  polls by the Kaiser Family Foundation which found that health care ranks second behind Iraq on the list of issues that the public wants to hear presidential candidates talk about, for Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike. And when asked about the issues that will affect their vote for president in 2008, the list of issues is similar to those the public wants to hear candidates discuss – Iraq (29%), followed by health care and the economy (tied at 21%), and immigration (12%) somewhat further behind.
• Even as Americans rank health care as a key issue in this election, few of them seem to understand the health care plans being proposed by the candidates.
  According to poll results commissioned by PresidentialRX.com from Zogby International, only 19% of likely American voters state that they understand the presidential candidates’ proposals for the American health care system.  That’s one of the reasons we created PresidentialRX.com - to give voters more information about what the candidates are proposing and what it might for them and their family.
• Cost is at the top of Americans’ list of key health care  issues. 
  In another poll commissioned by PresidentialRX.com from Zogby International, the most important health care issue currently being discussed in the presidential election is the cost of health care to a family, according to one-third of respondents (34%). 29% said they are most concerned about access to health care for all Americans, and 13% said their most important health care issue in the presidential election is safety and quality of care. The fourth most important health care concern listed by those who participated in the poll was a tie between consumer choice regarding providers and health care plans (7%), and the amount of spending on federal health care programs (7%).
• There are some differences between Americans who view themselves as Republicans and Democrats.
  Both Republican and Democratic respondents to the Zogby poll identified cost as a key health care issue, with 36.1% of Republicans and 34.9 % of Democrats ranking cost as their most important health care issue. But access to health care for all Americans appeared to be more important to Democrats, with 36% of Democrats reporting access to be their most important issue, as opposed to 16.3% for Republicans. Compared to Democrats, Republicans placed greater importance on consumer choice (12.6% ranked it as their most important health care issue, as opposed to only 3% of Democrats) and the amount of federal spending on health care (11.1% of Republicans ranked it as their most important health care issue, as opposed to 1.9% of Democratic respondents).
• There are slight differences between men and women on what’s important.
  Men and women agreed on the importance of the various health care issues explored in the Zogby poll, with one exception.  Women placed greater importance on access to health care for all Americans, with 32.7% of women ranking it as the most important health care issue to their family, as opposed to only 24.3% of men ranking it as the most important issue.
• There is weak support for mandating universal access to health care for all Americans.
  The polling conducted by the Commonwealth Fund also explored the views of Americans on the some of the health care reform strategies being proposed by the Presidential candidates. When asked about their support for a requirement that everyone have health insurance, with the government helping those who are unable to afford it, a majority of American adults said they would favor such a requirement. However, support for such a requirement was not strong, with 40% strongly favoring it, and 28% somewhat in favor. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents were divided, with 80% of Democrats strongly or somewhat in favor of requiring everyone to have health insurance, 52% of Republicans strongly or somewhat in favor, and 68% of Independents strongly or somewhat in favor.
  
  In this same survey, participants were asked whether they thought employers should either provide health insurance to their employees or contribute to a fund that would help cover uninsured workers. A large majority (81%) thought that employers should do this, including Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, as did people from all income groups and regions of the country.  A majority of adults also indicated they supported the notion that financing for health insurance coverage for all Americans should be a responsibility shared by employers, government, and individuals. 66% percent of the respondents viewed the responsibility as one that should be shared, with almost equal proportions of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents sharing this view, regardless of insurance status, income, or region of the country.

The Health Care Solutions Group is a non-partisan health institute focused on supporting improvement in the health care system. This site will provide health care reform plan information proposed by the presidential candidates and will include analysis, related news, commentary from health policy experts and additional voter resources.