Source: Specific Health Care Issues in the 2000 Presidential Election: July 2000

Now thinking specifically about health care…I’m going to read you a list of health care issues you might consider in deciding who to vote for in this year’s presidential election. As I read each one, please tell me if you think it will be very important in deciding your vote for president, fairly important, not too important, or not at all important. Which ONE of these do you think will be the MOST important in deciding your vote?

Among those who say they are registered to vote:15%  Protecting patients’ rights in health plans14  Helping people age 65 and over to pay for medicines20  Making Medicare financially sound19  Increasing the number of Americans with health insurance11  Regulating the cost of medicines11  Helping families with the cost of caring for elderly or disabled family members10  Don’t know/none are important

Among registered voters who say health care or Medicare will be one of the two most important issues determining their vote:13%  Protecting patients’ rights in health plans18  Helping people age 65 and over to pay for medicines18  Making Medicare financially sound21  Increasing the number of Americans with health insurance12  Regulating the cost of medicines13  Helping families with the cost of caring for elderly or disabled family members4  Don’t know/none are important

This survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,183 registered voters was conducted by The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University by telephone between July 5 and 18, 2000. The survey included an oversample of 176 registered voters who said that Medicare and/or health care other than Medicare would be one of the most important issues helping them to decide which presidential candidate to support. A total of 614 voters fell into this category and were classified as “health care or Medicare-oriented voters.” Fieldwork was conducted by ICR/International Communications Research of Media, Pennsylvania.