Health care is an important issue for voters in the United States, and many of them are expressing dissatisfaction with the system as it is structured currently -- dissatisfaction that may reverberate in the voting booth during the next few years.
Public's Concern About U.S. Health Care System on the Rise
By News Staff
11/10/2006
Although a Nov. 2 article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that health care was unlikely to be key to voters' decisions in the mid-term elections, an Oct. 4-10 Harris poll found that 29 percent of respondents said health care would "have the biggest impact" on their voting decisions, ranking even with "keeping America safer" and more important than the war on terror and the Iraq war.
In a public health confidence survey, (PDF file: 12 pages / 138 KB. More about PDFs.) released in November, the Employee Benefit Research Institute, or EBRI, found that 19 percent of Americans listed health care as an issue that is "most critical today," while 17 percent listed the war in Iraq, 16 percent chose energy prices, and 14 percent chose terrorism.
"Although other issues facing the public have waxed and then waned over the past nine years, health care has remained an issue of concern for many Americans," the EBRI researchers observed in the survey report.
"The American public is sending us a message about health care," says AAFP President Rick Kellerman, M.D., of Wichita, Kan. "To me, when you're a physician, you don't just look at the symptoms, you look at the disease. These polls are a symptom of an underlying disease."
Cost seems to be one of the biggest drivers fueling concerns about health care among Americans. An April 2006 Harvard School of Public Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation survey reports that, of health-related concerns, costs ranked highest for 43 percent of respondents; the uninsured and access to care were most important to 34 percent of respondents.
"When Americans talk about health care costs, however, their concern is not for the share of the nation's gross domestic product going toward health care, but rather the financial impact on their own families," wrote Robert Blendon and his co-authors in "Understanding The American Public's Health Priorities: A 2006 Perspective," an Oct. 17 Health Affairs Web exclusive article.
Many of Americans' concerns, say analysts, may stem from the prospect of medical bankruptcy. A February 2005 Health Affairs study showed 54.5 percent of all bankruptcies were related to health care costs. Of those who declared medical bankruptcy, 75.7 percent had health insurance at the onset of illness, the study showed.
An October 2006 ABC-Kaiser Family Foundation-USA Today poll, "Health Care in America 2006 Survey," (PDF file: 25 pages / 154 KB. More about PDFs.) reported that, of Americans who had problems paying for care, 69 percent had health insurance.
Of all nonelderly Americans, one-third struggle with insurance and medical bills, the Commonwealth Fund reported in "U.S. Health System Performance: A National Scorecard," published in the Sept. 20 Health Affairs.
Meanwhile, health insurance premiums rose 7.7 percent in 2006, according to the Employer Health Benefits: 2006 Annual Survey (PDF file: 156 pages / 3 MB. More about PDFs.) by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.
"While premiums didn't rise as fast as they have in recent years, working people don't feel like they are getting any relief at all because their premiums have been rising so much faster than their paychecks," said Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman, Ph.D., in a Sept. 26 news release about the study.
Six out of 10 insured Americans "are at least somewhat worried about being able to afford the cost of their health insurance over the next few years," and 56 percent of insured Americans say they worry that job loss will deprive them or their family of coverage," according to the "Health Care in America 2006 Survey." Of those without insurance, 54 percent said they lacked coverage because they couldn't afford it.
In a public health confidence survey, (PDF file: 12 pages / 138 KB. More about PDFs.) released in November, the Employee Benefit Research Institute, or EBRI, found that 19 percent of Americans listed health care as an issue that is "most critical today," while 17 percent listed the war in Iraq, 16 percent chose energy prices, and 14 percent chose terrorism.
"Although other issues facing the public have waxed and then waned over the past nine years, health care has remained an issue of concern for many Americans," the EBRI researchers observed in the survey report.
"The American public is sending us a message about health care," says AAFP President Rick Kellerman, M.D., of Wichita, Kan. "To me, when you're a physician, you don't just look at the symptoms, you look at the disease. These polls are a symptom of an underlying disease."
Cost seems to be one of the biggest drivers fueling concerns about health care among Americans. An April 2006 Harvard School of Public Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation survey reports that, of health-related concerns, costs ranked highest for 43 percent of respondents; the uninsured and access to care were most important to 34 percent of respondents.
"When Americans talk about health care costs, however, their concern is not for the share of the nation's gross domestic product going toward health care, but rather the financial impact on their own families," wrote Robert Blendon and his co-authors in "Understanding The American Public's Health Priorities: A 2006 Perspective," an Oct. 17 Health Affairs Web exclusive article.
Many of Americans' concerns, say analysts, may stem from the prospect of medical bankruptcy. A February 2005 Health Affairs study showed 54.5 percent of all bankruptcies were related to health care costs. Of those who declared medical bankruptcy, 75.7 percent had health insurance at the onset of illness, the study showed.
An October 2006 ABC-Kaiser Family Foundation-USA Today poll, "Health Care in America 2006 Survey," (PDF file: 25 pages / 154 KB. More about PDFs.) reported that, of Americans who had problems paying for care, 69 percent had health insurance.
Of all nonelderly Americans, one-third struggle with insurance and medical bills, the Commonwealth Fund reported in "U.S. Health System Performance: A National Scorecard," published in the Sept. 20 Health Affairs.
Meanwhile, health insurance premiums rose 7.7 percent in 2006, according to the Employer Health Benefits: 2006 Annual Survey (PDF file: 156 pages / 3 MB. More about PDFs.) by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.
"While premiums didn't rise as fast as they have in recent years, working people don't feel like they are getting any relief at all because their premiums have been rising so much faster than their paychecks," said Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman, Ph.D., in a Sept. 26 news release about the study.
Six out of 10 insured Americans "are at least somewhat worried about being able to afford the cost of their health insurance over the next few years," and 56 percent of insured Americans say they worry that job loss will deprive them or their family of coverage," according to the "Health Care in America 2006 Survey." Of those without insurance, 54 percent said they lacked coverage because they couldn't afford it.
In addition, more Americans have fallen off the rolls of those insured through their employers. Between 2000 and 2004, the number of Americans with employer-sponsored insurance fell from 66 percent to 61 percent, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report released in October. (PDF file: 16 pages / 375 KB. More about PDFs.) Of those without employer-sponsored coverage, 48 percent lost coverage because of loss of employer sponsorship, 27 percent declined their employer's offer of coverage, 14 percent were not eligible because of their part-time work status or other factors, and 11 percent lost coverage as dependents.
As a result, the ranks of uninsured Americans reached 46.6 million in 2005, totaling 15.9 percent of all Americans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The group most affected by the increase was families earning $50,000 to $75,000 a year.
These data portend a renewed focus among Americans on health care policy and the uninsured, according to Blendon and his colleagues.
"Although health care is not the top issue for Americans, it consistently ranks among the top five issues for government to address," they wrote. "In addition, contrary to concerns of many experts, the public continues to favor more rather than less health spending in the aggregate."
As a result, the ranks of uninsured Americans reached 46.6 million in 2005, totaling 15.9 percent of all Americans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The group most affected by the increase was families earning $50,000 to $75,000 a year.
These data portend a renewed focus among Americans on health care policy and the uninsured, according to Blendon and his colleagues.
"Although health care is not the top issue for Americans, it consistently ranks among the top five issues for government to address," they wrote. "In addition, contrary to concerns of many experts, the public continues to favor more rather than less health spending in the aggregate."
Health Reform: A Call for Change