Embargoed for release until:Wednesday, November 1, 2006, 5:00 p.m. ET

For further information contact:Craig Palosky, KFF, (202) 347-5270 Robin Herman, HSPH, (617) 432-4388

NEJM Article Finds That Health Care Is Not Playing A Major Role In 2006 Congressional Elections, But Could Be A Factor In Selected Close Races

Voters Trust Democrats More Than Republicans On List Of Many Health Issues

A New England Journal of Medicine article to be published November 2 finds that health care is not likely to play a major role in next week’s Congressional elections, but could still be a factor in selected close races.

The article, written 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 11 national opinion surveys, including a fall Kaiser/Harvard survey that shows voters trust Democrats more than Republicans on a wide range of health care issues, from dealing with the uninsured and health care costs to the Medicare prescription drug law to stem cell research. Some of these issues have emerged as salient in individual Congressional races.

The article finds that health care overall ranks well below national security and economic concerns as issues most likely to determine the outcome of the November 7 Congressional elections. In addition, candidates’ stands on the issues are only one of many factors that affect voters’ decisions. Voters’ political philosophy, their party loyalty and the perceived character and experience of individual candidates all play a role. And, this year’s election may be more of a general referendum on President Bush and the Republican Congress than a vote about specific issues.

“Although Americans respond in polls that they are worried about the state of health care in the U.S. today, and especially about the rising cost of their own health insurance, these concerns are not breaking through as a top voting issue in the mid-term election,” Dr. Blendon and Dr. Altman write in the article.

The authors note that there is not a consensus among voters about health care priorities. When asked to say in their own words which health care issues were the most important in their Congressional vote, fewer than a quarter of registered voters in 2006 agreed on any particular issue. The two most frequently cited health care issues were health care costs, including the cost of prescription medicines (22%) and the uninsured/access to care (20%), followed by concerns about Medicare (12%).

Further diluting the mandate for reform right now, the electorate is split along party lines in terms of the saliency of health care to their vote, the study also found. Democratic voters were significantly more likely than Republicans to name at least one health care issue that was important to their vote. Democrats were most likely to cite issues related to the uninsured and access to care (30%), compared with 13% of Republicans. Republicans were most likely to cite issues related to health care costs (20%), comparable to the share of Democrats who cited the issue (23%). Nearly half of Republicans (49%) did not cite any issue, compared with one in three Democrats who did not cite any issue (34%).

“The new leaders of the Congress will find themselves facing scarce new federal revenues, deep partisan division over the direction of health policy and resistance by many conservative members to new health care spending plans,” the authors conclude. “In addition, as we move towards 2008, opposition by members of each party to the other’s health proposals in a presidential election season will intensify. In this environment, significant new health reform initiatives are unlikely, and the Congressional focus will be on incremental policy changes.”

The article, Voters And Health Care In The 2006 Election, is available here.

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The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation dedicated to providing information and analysis on health care issues to policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.

Harvard School of Public Health is dedicated to advancing the public’s health through learning, discovery, and communication. More than 300 faculty members are engaged in teaching and training the 900-plus student body in a broad spectrum of disciplines crucial to the health and well being of individuals and populations around the world. Programs and projects range from the molecular biology of AIDS vaccines to the epidemiology of cancer; from risk analysis to violence prevention; from maternal and children’s health to quality of care measurement; from health care management to international health and human rights. For more information on the school visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu.

National Survey of Pharmacists 2006: Full Topline Results

These toplines provide additional findings from a 2006 national survey of pharmacists on their views and experiences on a wide range of health care issues.

Toplines (.pdf)

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.

Prescription Drugs: Advertising, Out-of-Pocket Costs, and Patient Safety from the Perspective of Doctors and Pharmacists

National Survey of Physicians 2006: Full Topline Results

National Survey of Pharmacists 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.

Executive Summary

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.

News Release

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)