Uninsured Top Priority for Congress
According to Health Care Opinion Leaders
“How important do you think the following health care issues
are for Congress to address in the next five years?”
Top 10 issues: Percent responding “absolutely essential” or “very important”
Rank
88%
Expand coverage for the uninsured
1
Enact reforms to moderate rising health care costs
2
81%
Reform Medicare to ensure its long-run solvency
3
80%
Increase use of IT to improve quality, safety of care
3
80%
Expand SCHIP to reach all uninsured children
5
Ensure families don't pay excessive out-of-pocket
costs in relation to income
6
Address shortage of trained health care professionals
7
Control the rising cost of prescription drugs
8
Reform Medicare payment to reward performance on
quality, efficiency
9
64%
Reduce racial/ethnic disparities in care
9
64%
Note: Based on a list of 17 issues.
Source: The Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey, Jan 2007.
76%
75%
70%
66%
Transformation Is Possible
"What you would see as both an achievable and
a desirable goal or target for policy action within the next 10 years?"
Percent
100
Current
80
85
Goal
75
60
49
43
40
20
18
16
16
17
5
10
0
Proportion of under-65
population that has no
health insurance
Total cost of health
care as a percentage
of GDP
Proportion of
households spending
>10% of income on
OOP costs and
premiums*
Note: Goal percentages represent median responses.
* Or 5% of household income for low-income households; OOP = “out-of-pocket”.
Source: Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey, Jan. 2007.
Proportion of
recommended
preventive care adults
receive
Proportion of
recommended
preventive care
children receive
Health Care Opinion Leaders:
Views on Expanding Coverage for the Uninsured
“How effective do you think each of these reforms is at expanding coverage for the uninsured?”
Percent saying “extremely/very effective”
Mandate all individuals buy coverage; provide subsidies, a
pooled mechanism to make coverage affordable
Provide federal matching funds for Medicaid/SCHIP
coverage of adults <150% and children <300% poverty
57%
57%
54%
Establish a single-payer insurance system run by the gov't
53%
Cover everyone under Medicare
46%
Let near-elderly adults buy into Medicare
Provide incentives or requirements to expand employerbased health insurance
Eliminate the two-year waiting period for the disabled to
qualify for Medicare
43%
40%
36%
Provide reinsurance for small business insurance plans
Provide tax credits or other subsidies to low-wage workers
to buy coverage
Promote tax-free savings accounts
Permit association health plans to provide coverage
without state licensing restrictions
Note: Based on a list of 15 options.
Source: The Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey, Jan. 2007.
25%
14%
13%
Health Care Opinion Leaders:
Views on Controlling Rising Health Care Costs
“How effective do you think each of these approaches would be
to control rising costs and improve the quality of care?”
Percent saying “extremely/very effective”
75%
Reduce inappropriate medical care
Use evidence-based guidelines to determine if a test,
procedure should be done
70%
66%
Increased and more effective use of IT
Increase the use of disease and care management
strategies for the chronically ill
65%
Reward providers who are more efficient and provide
higher quality care
Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices
61%
57%
Reduce administrative costs of insurers, providers
54%
Establish a public/private mechanism to produce,
disseminate information of effectiveness, best practices
54%
Have all payers, including private insurers, Medicare,
and Medicaid, adopt common payment methods or rates
Consolidate purchasing power by public, private
insurers working together to moderate rising costs of
Note: Based on a list of 19 options.
Source: The Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey, Jan. 2007.
51%
50%