Voters’ Priorities for the New
Administration and Congress
Survey Developed by the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation
and the Harvard School of Public Health/
Kennedy School of Government
Robert J. Blendon
Drew E. Altman
John M. Benson
Mollyann Brodie
Larry Hugick
February 1, 2001
Methods
Sample Size: National random sample of 1052 selfreported voters in the 2000 election
Survey Firm: Telephone interviews conducted by
Princeton Survey Research Associates
Field Period: November 13-December 13, 2000
Margin of Error: plus or minus 3 percentage points
Voters’ Top Health Care Priorities
% saying first choice
35%
Total Medicare- related priorities
Provide prescription drug
coverage to seniors
Make Medicare more financially
sound in the future
18%
17%
Provide insurance for people without health
insurance
Protect patient rights in HMO's and
managed care plans
Help families with the cost of caring for
elderly or disabled family members who
need long-term help
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
30%
16%
14%
Voters’ Preferences for the Future
of Medicare
% saying
Keep Medicare as it is today, with most
seniors getting the same benefits and
paying the same premiums
31%
Change Medicare to give retirees a choice of
either staying in the traditional Medicare
program or choosing from a list of private
plans and HMOs having different benefits
and premiums, with the government paying
a fixed amount toward the cost of the plan
Neither (Vol.)
Don’t know
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
61%
2%
6%
Voters’ Views on Changing
Medicare
Change Medicare to give retirees a choice of
either staying in the traditional Medicare
program or choosing from a list of private
plans and HMOs having different benefits
and premiums, with the government paying
a fixed amount toward the cost of the plan
Change Medicare in this way even if the
traditional coverage would cost more for
those who choose it than it does today
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
61%
40%
Voters’ Views on Changing Medicare
to Make It Financially Solvent (1)
% favoring
Using part of the federal budget surplus to fund
Medicare
72%
Encouraging people on Medicare to choose from
a list of private plans and HMOs having different
benefits and premiums, with the government
paying a fixed amount toward the cost of the plan
If traditional Medicare plan cost
increases
Creating a sliding scale for Medicare, so that the
more income seniors have, the more they pay in
Medicare premiums
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
64%
40%
58%
Voters’ Views on Changing Medicare
to Make It Financially Solvent (2)
% favoring
Reducing the amount Medicare pays to doctors,
hospitals, and HMOs for treating people covered
by Medicare
33%
Gradually raising the age of eligibility for
Medicare from 65 to 67 for future retirees
33%
Increasing the payroll taxes workers now pay to
fund the Medicare program
29%
Charging seniors who want to stay in traditional
Medicare program higher co-payments and
deductibles
Requiring seniors to pay a larger share of
Medicare costs out of their own pockets
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
19%
10%
Voters’ Views on Federal
Government’s Role in Paying for
Seniors’ Prescription Drugs
% saying
Expand Medicare
56%
Help buy private
insurance plans
Keep things as now
33%
6%
None
3%
Don't know
3%
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
Voters’ Views on What Government
Should Do for the Uninsured
(involving the surplus)
% saying
17%
Keep things as they are
Make a limited effort to provide health insurance
for some of the uninsured, which would use part of
the government surplus
41%
Make a major effort to provide insurance for
nearly all uninsured Americans, which would use a
substantial part of the federal surplus
Don't know/Other
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
36%
6%
Voters’ Views on What Government
Should Do for the Uninsured
(involving taxes)
% saying
Keep things as they are
8%
Make a limited effort to provide health insurance
for some of the uninsured, which would not require
a tax increase
52%
Make a major effort to provide insurance for
nearly all uninsured Americans, which would
require a tax increase
Don't know/Other
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
35%
5%
Voters’ Views on Top Priority for
Government Providing Health
Insurance
% saying
Parents of poor children who can now get
government health insurance
37%
People 55 to 64 who are uninsured and not yet
eligible for Medicare
Neither (vol.)
Don't know
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
52%
3%
8%
Voters’ Support for Various
Proposals to Aid the Uninsured
% saying favor
Increasing government funding to expand
community health clinics that serve the poor
80%
Expanding state government programs, such as
Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance
Program, to provide coverage for low-income
people without health insurance
79%
Offering uninsured Americans income tax
deductions, tax credits or other finanical
assistance to help them purchase private health
insurance on their own
75%
Expanding Medicare to cover people between the
ages of 55 and 64 who have no health insurance
A national health plan, financed by taxpayers, in
which all Americans would get their insurance
from a single government plan
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
72%
32%
Voters’ Choice between Two Ways to
Aid the Uninsured
% saying they prefer
Offering uninsured Americans income tax
deductions, tax credits, or other financial
assistance to help them purchase private health
insurance on their own
45%
Expanding state government programs, such as
Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance
Program, to provide coverage for low-income
people without health insurance
45%
Don't know
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
10%
Voters’ Support for a
Patient Rights Law
% favoring
A law that would require HMOs and
managed care plans to make it easier to see
medical specialists, allow appeals to
independent reviewers when denied coverage
and give people the right to sue their health
plan
If it would raise the cost of health plans and
lead some companies to drop coverage
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
76%
30%
Employed/Insured Voters’*
Preference for Their Future Health
Insurance Coverage
% preferring if costs the same
Have your employer contribute directly to the
cost of your health insurance policy at work
73%
Buy a health insurance policy yourself, with
your employer giving you the cash amount
they would have contributed to buying your
policy through the company
Don't know
23%
3%
* Health insurance currently provided by the employer
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)
Voters’ Views on the Need for
More Government Regulation
% saying not enough
Quality of care in
nursing homes
62%
Cost of prescription
drugs
46%
HMOs and managed
care
43%
Cost of health
insurance policies
Business and
industry in general
37%
16%
Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health/PSRA (Nov-Dec, 2000)