Two New Polls Find Affordable Coverage is #1 Health Reform Priority for Americans
Two November polls report that making affordable coverage available is the number one priority for most Americans. The Kaiser Family Foundation poll (conducted November 5-12) asked respondents which elements of health reform they ranked as most important to them personally. The most popular responses were:
- making sure affordable insurance is available to the average consumer (79 percent named this as “extremely” or “very” important)
- requiring insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions (71 percent)
- not adding to the budget deficit (69 percent)
- filling the so-called donut hole in Medicare prescription drug coverage (68 percent)
- providing enough government financial help so that as many uninsured people as possible can get coverage (65 percent)
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families and Lake Research Partners survey (November 3-10) asked families to rank their reform priorities, and asked about how families are dealing with the costs of health care coverage. Top responses were:
- cutting back on household spending to pay for health care(44%);
- building up credit card and medical debt (23%);
- using up all or most of their savings(21%);
- and/or having someone in their household do without health insurance (21%).
Like the Kaiser poll, affordable coverage was the #1 choice for top reform priority, and when asked, “What is more important to you (1) making sure that health care reform makes coverage more affordable to families or (2) making sure health reform does not cost the country too much,” 66% chose affordable coverage. The poll also found that families rated the House’s proposed health insurance premiums more affordable than those proposed in the Senate bill.
