Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 — March 2007

This Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll is the first in a new series on the public’s views of health reform and the presidential candidates’ positions on health care. Through the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008, Kaiser will track changes in the saliency of health as a political and policy priority, what the public’s priorities are for a health reform plan, and whether any candidates are breaking through with the public with their health reform plans

This first baseline survey shows that Iraq continues to top the public’s list of issues, with 44% of the public citing it as one of the most important problems for the government to address and the same share saying they would like to hear presidential candidates talk about it. Iraq is the number one issues for Republicans, Democrats and independents alike.

But health care ranks second, with 29% citing it as one of the most important problems for the government to address, followed by the economy at 13%. Health care ranks second behind Iraq for Republicans, Democrats and independents alike. Previous Kaiser polls have shown the economy and health care tied as priorities for the public, or the economy ahead of health care, so it may be that health care is may be on the rise as a campaign national issue.

As the campaign progresses, Kaiser will continue to track public opinion on health care and the presidential candidates every two months as part of its broader efforts to develop information and analysis to inform the emerging health reform debate at the state and federal levels.

Key Findings

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The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.