The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Prescription Drugs: Advertising, Out-of-Pocket Costs, and Patient Safety from the Perspective of Doctors and Pharmacists
This document highlights additional findings from separate surveys of pharmacists and physicians related to their views and experiences on a wide range of health care issues.
Issue Brief (.pdf)
Two Kaiser Family Foundation national surveys of doctors and pharmacists examine additional findings on their views and experiences on a wide range of health care issues. The topics covered in the surveys include views and experiences with medical errors and quality issues, use of health care information technology, prescription drug advertisements, views on Medicaid provisions, doctors’ willingness to see Medicaid and Medicare patients, and physicians’ views of conscience-clause provisions.
The Kaiser Family Foundation National Survey of Physicians and National Survey of Pharmacists were conducted from April through July 2006. Kaiser Family Foundation staff designed and analyzed the survey. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Survey findings related to experiences with the Medicare prescription drug benefit were previously released and are available here.
National Survey of Physicians 2006: Full Topline Results
Health Coverage for Low-Income Americans: An Evidence-Based Approach to Public Policy
This report offers an evidence-based framework for developing public policy approaches to covering low-income Americans. The first part of the report is devoted to the question: What is the role for publicly sponsored health insurance? The second part turns to seven central issues in structuring a publicly sponsored health insurance program for the low-income population. The report outlines each of these issues, provides a detailed review of the relevant evidence from research, and provides a perspective. The report concludes by drawing together the perspectives so that the elements of a well-designed program of coverage for low-income Americans come more fully into view.
Full Report (.pdf)
Foreword and Introduction (.pdf)
What is the Role for Publicly Sponsored Health Insurance? (.pdf)
How Should Publicly Sponsored Health Insurance be Structured?
Eligibility (.pdf)
Participation (.pdf)
Use of Premiums (.pdf)
Scope of Benefits (.pdf)
Use of Cost-Sharing (.pdf)
Access to Care (.pdf)
Financing (.pdf)
Conclusion (.pdf)
Voters frequently cite the economy as a key issue in determining their preferences in any given election. At the same time, many people report that they are very worried about the rising costs of health care, naming it as a top personal concern. This Public Opinion Data Note focuses on how much the two points are related, and to what extent concerns about health care costs drive impressions about the economy as a whole.
When voters who name the economy as their top issue were asked to be more specific, health care is mentioned as a secondary issue to access to jobs with better wages and benefits, the need for more jobs overall, and concerns about jobs leaving the country. However, for voters pessimistic about the state of the economy – the 60% who rate the economy as “not so good” or “poor” – health care concerns appear to play a somewhat larger role.
The Data Note draws from a nationally representative telephone survey, conducted Oct. 5 to Oct. 10 among 1,052 registered voters, and analyzed by Kaiser researchers.
Data Note (.pdf)
New England Journal of Medicine Article: Voters and Health Care in the 2006 Election
A New England Journal of Medicine article finds that health care is not likely to play a major role in the November 2006 Congressional elections but could still be a factor in selected close races.
This article, by Harvard School of Public Health Professor of Health Policy Robert J. Blendon, Sc.D, and Kaiser Family Foundation President Drew E. Altman, Ph.D., analyzes the upcoming election polls and shows that voters trust Democrats more than Republicans on a wide range of health care issues such as the Medicare prescription drug law and stem cell research.
New England Journal of Medicine article
National Survey of Physicians 2006: Full Topline Results
These toplines provide additional findings from a 2006 national survey of physicians on their views and experiences on a wide range of health care issues.
Toplines (.pdf)
The appropriate level of cost-sharing for patients remains a key issue in designing both private and public health insurance. This report reviews the groundbreaking RAND Health Insurance Experiment from the 1970s to offer insights into current policy debates about appropriate cost-sharing levels.
One of the most ambitious health policy studies in U.S. history, the RAND experiment randomly assigned thousands of families to insurance with varying levels of patient co-insurance. The researchers followed the participants for three to five years to evaluate the effects on their medical utilization and health status.
The new report, prepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Jonathan Gruber, Ph.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, examines the RAND experiment and other more recent research for lessons relevant to today’s policy debates.
Report (.pdf)
This Kaiser Health Poll Report Summary examines voters’ views and worries on health care and other issues in light of the upcoming November 7, 2006, Congressional elections. The nationally representative telephone survey was conducted between Oct. 5 and Oct. 10 among 1,052 registered voters. It was conducted and analyzed by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Summary (.pdf)
This October 2006 survey examines voters’ views and worries on health care and other issues in advance of the midterm Congressional elections.
Overall, nearly half (46%) of voters say they are “very worried” about having to pay more for their health care or insurance, putting health care costs at the top of voters’ personal worries.
However, when asked to name the most important election issue, 30% of polled voters identified Iraq as the their top concern. The next three most frequently cited issues are clustered back in the pack: health care (15%), the economy (15%) and terrorism (13%).
The nationally representative telephone survey was conducted between Oct. 5 and Oct. 10 among 1,052 registered voters. The survey was developed and analyzed by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
These toplines contain the detailed results from a survey examining voters’ views and worries on health care and other issues in light of the upcoming November 7, 2006, Congressional elections. The nationally representative telephone survey was conducted between Oct. 5 and Oct. 10 among 1,052 registered voters. It was conducted and analyzed by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Toplines (.pdf)