Center for Survey Research - Stony Brook University

Health care is emerging as a key issue in the 2004 presidential election. Sixty-two percent of Americans regard the candidates’ position on health care as important in deciding who they will vote for in November. And when asked about the single MOST important issue in deciding their vote later in the year, health care came in second and was of equal importance to terrorism and the war in Iraq. The economy and jobs was the top issue, mentioned by 32% of Americans. This was followed by 19% who said health care and Medicare, and the same percentage (19%) who mentioned terrorism and the war in Iraq (19%). The issue is most important to low income and older voters, Democrats and Independents.

Americans generally view affordable health care as a major health problem. A quarter of all poll respondents cited affordable and accessible health coverage (including the cost of prescription drugs) as the most important health problem facing Americans today. This exceeded the number who mentioned specific, major causes of death such as cancer (19%), obesity (15%) or heart disease (9%), and represents a shift from August, 2003, when cancer was seen as the top health problem.

President Bush has steadily lost support for his handling of health care policy over the last eight months. President Bush’s approval ratings on health care have dropped from 40% in May, 2003 (the inaugural Health Pulse of American poll) to a current low of 28%. A majority of Americans (50%) now disapprove of the way he is handling the issue. Four in ten Americans trust John Kerry to do a better job of handling health care issues compared to a third who trust George W. Bush.

Americans understand that action on health care will cost money and are willing to alter policy and spending priorities to effect these changes. Almost 6 out of ten (57%) Americans want to repeal at least some of the Bush tax cuts to expand health insurance coverage. Indeed, over a quarter (28%) want to repeal the tax cuts for everyone not just the most wealthy as Kerry has proposed. Republicans would prefer to keep the tax cuts, but even they feel torn with 48% in favor of keeping the cuts and 39% supporting some repeal to fund health care. Americans are also willing to make important trade offs in spending priorities. A majority (52%) want more spent on health care and less spent on national defense, and 80% want more spent on health care and less on space exploration.

John Kerry may have found a winning issue in the complex territory of health care policy –the importation of cheaper prescription drugs from overseas. Kerry has a huge advantage over Bush on this issue. Americans overwhelmingly agree with Kerry’s position on legalizing the re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada. Roughly three in four Americans support action by the United States Congress that would make it legal for individuals to purchase prescription drugs from Canada and roughly 7 out of 10 support changing the law to allow states to import cheaper prescription drugs. Moreover, support for legalizing drug imports has increased over the last few months, rising roughly 5% since November, 2003. And Republicans are just as supportive of drug imports as Democrats.

When asked their view on the safety of prescription drugs purchased from Canada, 66% of Americans thought they were very or somewhat safe, an increase of 8% since November, 2003. Only 12% thought the drugs were somewhat or very unsafe.

Americans also generally support government limits on what pharmaceutical companies can charge for prescription drugs, as happens in Canada. Seven in ten Americans support such price controls and this support was found across individuals of differing educational background, income, and age. Republicans also supported price limits (68%), although somewhat less strongly than did Democrats (77%).

John Kerry and George W. Bush hold differing positions on the recent Medicare drug law and Americans tend to side with Kerry’s proposed changes to the law. Just over a half favor the Medicare law, but an even larger percentage – seven out of ten -- want to change the law to allow the government to import cheaper drugs from Canada. Just over seven in ten would also like the government to be able bargain with pharmaceutical companies to obtain a volume discount for seniors. In addition, Kerry has urged for the repeal or reduction of government subsidies to HMOs and, again, he has a majority of Americans on his side. Just under seven in ten are opposed to the government subsidizing HMOs to encourage private competition with Medicare.

Running against the pharmaceutical companies may work for Senator Kerry. Over a half of all Americans view President Bush’s health care policies as doing more to benefit prescription drug and health insurance companies, compared to just under a quarter who see his policies as primarily of benefit to ordinary people. In contrast, four out of ten Americans view Kerry’s proposals as benefiting ordinary people and only 16% see them as benefiting private health and prescription drug companies. A larger percentage of Americans also believe the new Medicare drug bill will benefit prescription drug companies (49%) than benefit Medicare recipients (25%).

Senator Kerry may have greater difficult in selling the public on other aspects of his health care proposals, however. He has advocated expanding health insurance coverage by allowing individual Americans and employers to buy into the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). In contrast President Bush has proposed tax credits to help the uninsured purchase private health insurance. And Bush has a slight edge on this issue, with a somewhat greater percentage of Americans favoring tax credits (47%) over expanding access to the federal health insurance program (41%).

The public is also more evenly divided over what to do about rising medical malpractice insurance costs. George W. Bush has argued for a cap on medical malpractice awards whereas John Kerry has urged for a reduction in frivolous lawsuits but no cap on award amounts. The public tends to favor Kerry’s position by a slight margin (37%) over the position endorsed by Bush (32%).

The poll was conducted between February 18 and March 8, 2004 by the Stony Brook University Center for Survey Research. 863 adults were interviewed from across the nation. The poll is based on an RDD nationally representative sample of telephone numbers drawn from blocks with at least one-listed residential number. Up to 7 contact attempts were made at each selected household and individuals were selected at random within households. Findings are weighted using post-stratification weights for age, gender and census region in accordance with 2003 national Census statistics. The margin of error is plus/minus 3.3 percentage points for the entire sample.

Q04 Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling HEALTH CARE policy?

Q11 Thinking ahead to this year's presidential election in November, how important will the candidates' position on health care be in deciding who you vote for?

		Percent
	Extremely important	23.0
	Very important	38.9
	Somewhat important	24.6
	Not very important	6.5
	Not at all important	5.3
	Don't know	.9
	Refused	.8
	Total	100.0

Q14 Which of these will be the single MOST important issue in your vote for president later this year:

		Percent
	Campaign against terrorism	13.1
	War in Iraq	6.3
	Economy and jobs	32.1
	Education	8.4
	Health care	13.3
	Medicare and prescription drugs	5.9
	Social Security	6.6
	Something else (specify)	8.0
	Don't know	4.8
	Refused	1.5
	Total	100.0

Q15 When making up the budget, policy makers often confront tough choices. If you had to choose, would you rather have MORE money spent on health care and LESS on national defense, LESS on health care and MORE on national defense, or keep spending at current levels?

		Percent
	More on health care, less on national defense	52.1
	Less on health care, more on national defense	12.5
	Keep spending at current levels	26.9
	Don't know	5.8
	Refused	2.6
	Total	100.0

Q16 If you had to choose, would you rather have MORE money spent on health care and LESS on space exploration, LESS on health care and MORE on space exploration, or keep spending at current levels?

		Percent
	More on health care, less on space exploration	79.5
	Less on health care, more on space exploration	3.8
	Keep spending at current levels	14.1
	Don't know	1.2
	Refused	1.5
	Total	100.0

Q17 Do you think the government should KEEP the recent tax cut in order to stimulate the economy, REPEAL tax cuts for the MOST WEALTHY to expand health insurance coverage, or should the government repeal ALMOST ALL of the tax cut to expand health insurance coverage?

		Percent
	Keep tax cut	29.1
	Repeal for most wealthy	28.8
	Repeal almost all	28.4
	Don't know	11.1
	Refused	2.6
	Total	100.0

Q18 Which of the following two options do you prefer MOST:

ONE The federal government allows people without health insurance to buy into its health insurance plan for Federal Employees at affordable rates, OR

TWO The federal government provides a tax credit to people without health insurance to pay for part of the cost of PRIVATE health insurance.

		Percent
	Buy into health insurance plan for federal employees	40.6
	Get tax credit to pay for private health insurance	46.5
	Neither	4.6
	Don't know	6.7
	Refused	1.7
	Total	100.0

Q21 The recently approved law expands Medicare to provide prescription drug benefits and creates a bigger role for private insurers. Do you favor or oppose this new law?

		Percent
	Favor	52.9
	Oppose	32.3
	Don't know	13.4
	Refused	1.5
	Total	100.0

Q22 The recent Medicare law prohibits the federal government from bargaining with the pharmaceutical companies to get a volume discount on drugs for seniors. Should this be changed to allow the government to bargain with the pharmaceutical companies, OR should the law stay as it is [to prevent the government from obtaining volume discounts on drugs for seniors]?

		Percent
	Change law to allow government to bargain with pharmaceutical	70.6
	Law should stay as it is	21.2
	Don't know	7.4
	Refused	.9
	Total	100.0

Q23 The recent Medicare law prohibits the federal government from importing cheaper drugs from Canada. Should this be changed OR should the law stay as it is?

		Percent
	Change law to allow government to import drugs	70.4
	Law should stay as it is	22.6
	Don't know	5.7
	Refused	1.4
	Total	100.0

Q24 Under the recent Medicare changes, the federal government will give money to HMOs so that they can offer lower premiums and co-payments to seniors to encourage private competition with Medicare. Are you in favor of the government giving money to HMOs? Or do you think the government should put the money back into the existing Medicare program?

		Percent
	Giving money to HMOs	19.1
	Put money back into Medicare	68.8
	Don't know	9.0
	Refused	3.2
	Total	100.0

Q25 Based on what you have heard or read about the new Medicare plan, do you think it will do:

		Percent
	More to benefit people who receive Medicare	24.5
	More to benefit prescription drug companies	48.7
	Don't know	24.5
	Refused	2.4
	Total	100.0

Q27 Which of the following three options do you prefer MOST:

ONE - The government should PLACE A CAP on the amount that can be awarded to patients who sue a physician for medical malpractice,

TWO - The government should make it more difficult for patients to FILE FRIVOLOUS medical malpractice suits AND NOT CAP the maximum amount that can be awarded to patients?

OR, THREE - The government should LEAVE THINGS as they are now?

		Percent
	Place a cap on patient awards	32.2
	Make it more difficult to file suits and not cap the awards	37.2
	Leave as now	24.7
	Don't know	4.7
	Refused	1.2
	Total	100.0

Q28 Are you in favor or opposed to the government placing limits on what pharmaceutical companies can charge for drugs, as happens in other countries such as Canada?

		Percent
	In favor	69.7
	Opposed	25.5
	Don't know	3.6
	Refused	1.2
	Total	100.0

Q29 In your view, how safe or unsafe are prescription drugs purchased from Canada?

	March ‘04 Percent	November ‘03 Percent
Very safe	36.7	28.5
Somewhat safe	29.0	29.7
Somewhat unsafe	7.8	6.9
Very unsafe	4.2	2.9
Don't know	21.8	31.2
Refused	.5	.8
Total	100.0	100.0

Q30 Some people say the U.S. Congress should change the current law and make it LEGAL for Americans to buy PRESCRIPTION DRUGS from Canada because they're less expensive. The United States Food and Drug Administration says it should remain ILLEGAL because imported drugs may be less safe and effective. What do you think: should it be LEGAL or ILLEGAL for Americans to buy PRESCRIPTION DRUGS from Canada?

	March ‘04 Percent	November ‘03 Percent
Legal	73.5	68.1
Illegal	20.9	25.4
Don't know	5.0	5.6
Refused	.7	1.0
Total	100.0	100.0

Q31 Several states are exploring whether to import prescription drugs from Canada for state employees and Medicaid recipients in order to cut costs. This practice is currently ILLEGAL. Do you think the United States Congress SHOULD change the law and make it LEGAL for states to purchase drugs from Canada?

	March ‘04 Percent	November ‘03 Percent
Should make it legal	69.5	63.8
Should NOT make it legal	23.6	24.7
Don't know	5.4	10.1
Refused	1.4	1.5
Total	100.0	100.0

Q32 Who do you trust to do a better job of handling health care issues, George W. Bush or John Kerry?

		Percent
	George W Bush	33.6
	John Kerry	40.0
	Don't know	22.5
	Refused	3.9
	Total	100.0

Q35 If you had to choose, would you say that George W. Bush's health care policies will do more to benefit ordinary people OR do more to benefit prescription drug and health insurance companies?

		Percent
	More to benefit ordinary people	24.2
	More to benefit prescription drug and health insurance companies	55.1
	Don't know	17.5
	Refused	3.1
	Total	100.0

Q36 If you had to choose, would you say that John Kerry's health care policies will do more to benefit ordinary people OR do more to benefit prescription drug and health insurance companies?

		Percent
	More to benefit ordinary people	40.1
	More to benefit prescription drug and health insurance companies	16.1
	Don't know	40.0
	Refused	3.8
	Total	100.0