Public Supports Health Care for All

Poll: Public Supports Health Care for All

by Will Lester

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1019-10.htm

Published on Sunday, October 19, 2003 by the Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The public’s growing unease with the current health care
system has built support for a new approach that would mean care for all
Americans and changes in laws governing prescription drugs, a poll
suggests.

A sizable majority, 70 percent, said it should be legal for Americans to
buy prescription drugs outside the United States, according to the ABC
News-Washington Post poll. One in eight respondents said they or someone
in their home has done just that. Such purchases can save money but they
violate the law.

The poll released Sunday found that more than half of Americans, 54
percent, are dissatisfied with the overall quality of health care in the
United States while 44 percent are satisfied. That dissatisfaction is 10
percentage points higher than in 2000 and higher than it has been in the
past decade when compared with earlier surveys.

While a solid majority of people tended to be happy with their own
quality of health care, the poll found "significant concern with the
system more broadly," said ABC pollster Gary Langer, who directed the
extensive survey.

Those concerns included worries about future costs, declining coverage
and the problems of people who lack insurance.

The poll found that six in 10 people surveyed say they are worried about
being able to afford health insurance in the future. More than one in
six said they have no insurance. The government says there were 43.6
million uninsured U.S. residents at some point during 2002, accounting
for 15.2 percent of the population.

The poll found that 53 percent of those who are insured say they are
worried about losing their insurance because of loss of a job. The
percentage of those who have health insurance and are satisfied with the
cost, 64 percent, has dropped by 9 percentage points since 1997.

By almost a 2-1 margin in this poll, 62 percent to 32 percent, Americans
said they preferred a universal system that would provide coverage to
everyone under a government program, as opposed to the current
employer-based system.

That support drops significantly, however, if universal coverage would
mean a limited choice of doctors or longer waits for nonemergency
treatment.

When people were asked the question slightly differently in a poll a
year ago, they were less enthusiastic. Asked if they wanted a
taxpayer-funded, health care system run by the government, fewer than
half said yes.

Robert Blendon, a specialist on health care public opinion at Harvard
University, said the public’s worries about health care have increased
this year.

"Health care is really rising as a political issue," Blendon said. "When
the economy gets bad and health care costs continue to rise, this
becomes an economic issue."

The Democratic presidential candidates are offering various proposals
for broadening health care coverage.

President Bush and congressional leaders from both parties have made
proposals this year to provide help paying for prescription drugs.

Congress is debating changes in Medicare that would include a
prescription drug benefit; lawmakers are divided over the best way to do
that.

"I really still feel confident," said Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., who is
leading the Medicare talks. "We’ve never been this close before. And
people of good will should not let us fall short," he told ABC’s "This
Week" on Sunday.

A proposal to allow Americans to buy prescription drugs from foreign
suppliers at a fraction of the U.S. cost passed the House in July over
the objection of the White House, some GOP leaders and pharmaceutical
companies. Backers of that measure hope the proposal or one like it will
be agreed to in current congressional negotiations over changes in
Medicare.

"The high cost of prescription drugs ends up being just as harmful as
the diseases people are fighting," said Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., a
co-sponsor of the prescription drug reimportation measure.

Among the poll’s other findings:

* Eight in 10 in the poll said it is more important to provide health
care coverage for all Americans even if it means higher taxes, than to
hold down taxes but leave some people uncovered.

* Almost two-thirds said they think the country is headed toward
rationing of health care so that some medical procedures are no longer
covered by insurance.

* Almost one-third of those who make less than $20,000 a year were
uninsured, compared with 8 percent of those who make more than $50,000 a
year.

The poll of 1,000 adults was taken Oct. 9-13 and has a margin of error
of plus or minus 3 percentage points.