A new survey has just been released from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and the Harvard School of Public Health, polling the American public's priorities for President Obama and the new Congress. The survey shows that the public rates action on health care to be a significant part in addressing the economic recession, and that reforming health care should be one of the top priorities for the new administration.

In a webcast on the KFF website, "Health Care Agenda for the New President and Congress," Drew Altman Ph.D. President and CEO Kaiser Family Foundation, stated that change in public opinion can be seen in this survey because of concern in a deep recession of paying for health care and "...the transformation of health care into a bread-and-butter economic issue for working people and the middle class which has given our issue a different kind of political traction..." However, there are still familiar "underlying tensions in public opinion that can be exploited, especially if there is a protracted debate--the kind of debate we've seen in the past that brings those tensions to the surface."

Health Ranks Just Behind Jobs as Economic Priority
Some specific topics of the survey include Economic Priorities for President and Congress, where "Helping those who are newly unemployed to afford their health insurance coverage" is second in importance, just behind "Helping business keep or create jobs." In another topic, Priorities for President and Congress, "Reforming health care" is third after the economy and fighting terrorism.

In terms of political party opinions in the survey Democrats, Republicans and Independents all feel that the economy is top priority. After that, Democrats rate health care as second in priority, Independents rate health care as fifth in priority, and Republicans rate health care eighth in priority.

In subsequent topics, more respondents overall feel that it is more important than ever to take on health care reform, as opposed to feeling the country cannot afford to take on such reform at this time. Broken down by party, Democrats (77%) and Independents (61%) agree with the importance, compared to Republicans (35%). In response to a question regarding the goals of health care reform, making health care and health insurance more affordable was rated as the top goal, finding a way to provide health insurance coverage to most Americans next, and then reforming the existing health care system for quality and cost-effectiveness.

The KFF news release quotes Robert J. Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health. "We can see the framework of a winning package of health reform proposals from the public's perspective," said Professor Blendon. "But the reality is that there are some key distinct differences among partisans that will pose a challenge to policymakers," he added.

The public appears to be closely divided as to how to pay for health care reform, in terms of willingness to spend more in taxes or premiums, and are concerned over major government involvement in individual health care decisions. Other significant responses include considering how far to go in coverage, favoring a "major effort to provide health insurance for nearly all uninsured Americans and would involve a substantial increase in spending."

The exact methodology of the survey is on the Kaiser Family Foundation website. The website features the webcast with Altman, Blendon, and Mollyann Brodie, Ph.D. Vice President and Director, Public Opinion and Media Research Kaiser Family Foundation, the survey results in chart form and also slides from the presentation.

Adapted from a news release by the Kaiser Family Foundation

For more information, go to:
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/kaiserpolls011509nr.cfm

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