Looking ahead to the November election for US Congress from your district, what issue will be most important to you in deciding who to vote for? (PROBE: Is there another issue that will be almost as important to you?)

Total

Ages 18-64

Ages 65+

Economy/jobs

17

16

20

Education

14

15

9

Taxes

8

9

5

Terrorism/War with Iraq

7

6

9

Health care/ Medicare

7

6

15

No issue

13

13

11

Don’t know

23

22

24

Survey by National Public Radio, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Methodology: Fieldwork conducted by ICR–International Communications Research, October 23-October 27, 2002 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 1,007.

 Now thinking specifically about health care…I’m going to read you a list of health care issues you might have considered in deciding who to vote for in this year’s presidential election. As I read each one, please tell me if this issue was very important in deciding your vote for president, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important. You said the following issues were very important…Which ONE of these was the MOST important health care issue in deciding your vote?

Based on those who said they voted for president in 2000; N=1,052

Total voters

Republicans

Democrats

Independents

The issue of abortion

21%

31%

13%

20%

Making prescription drugs more affordable for seniors

17

11

26

13

Increasing the number of Americans covered by health insurance

14

9

15

17

Making Medicare more financially sound

13

12

18

10

Helping families with the cost of long-term care

10

9

11

13

Protecting patients’ rights in HMO’s and managed care plans

9

7

8

11

Other (VOL)

*

*

1

None (VOL)

*

1

1

None are very important (VOL)

13

20

6

13

Don’t know/Refused

1

1

2

2

Survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health. Fieldwork was conducted by telephone by Princeton Survey Research Associates between November 13 and December 13, 2000 among a randomly selected nationally representative sample of 1,415 adults 18 years or older including 1,052 adults who said they voted in the November election.

Now I’m going to read you a list of issues that were discussed in this year’s presidential campaigns. After I read them all, tell me which one or two were the MOST important in deciding your vote for president. (RECORD UP TO TWO RESPONSES)

Based on those who said they voted for president in 2000; N=1,052

Note: Total exceeds 100% due to multiple responses.

Total voters

Republicans

Democrats

Independents

Education

33%

30%

36%

29%

Social Security

28

22

34

25

Moral values

26

45

11

24

Taxes

21

33

12

20

The economy

19

10

26

22

Health care other than Medicare

16

10

23

15

Medicare

12

8

18

9

Crime

6

4

5

9

Other (VOL)

3

4

2

3

None of these (VOL)

2

1

1

4

Don’t know/Refused

1

1

1

1

Survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health. Fieldwork was conducted by telephone by Princeton Survey Research Associates between November 13 and December 13, 2000 among a randomly selected nationally representative sample of 1,415 adults 18 years or older including 1,052 adults who said they voted in the November election.

Looking ahead to the November election for US Congress from your district, what issue will be most important to you in deciding who to vote for? (PROBE: Is there another issue that will be almost as important to you?)

Total

Democrats

Republicans

Independents

Economy/jobs

17%

24%

16%

15%

Education

14

14

16

14

Taxes

8

4

14

7

Terrorism/War with Iraq

7

6

7

10

Health care/ Medicare

7

8

6

6

No issue

13

9

10

14

Don’t know

23

24

18

26

Now, thinking specifically about health care… What health care issue, if any, will be most important to you in deciding how to vote for US Congress? (PROBE: Is there another health care issue that will be almost as important to you?)

Total

Democrats

Republicans

Independents

Prescription Drug Costs

21%

26%

21%

18%

Health Care Costs

18

15

19

20

Expanding Health Insurance Coverage

16

19

15

15

Medicare/Medicaid/Care for the Elderly

13

16

13

12

Patient’s Bill of Rights

2

3

2

1

No issue

14

13

13

16

Don’t know

18

17

14

21

Survey by National Public Radio, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Methodology: Fieldwork conducted by ICR–International Communications Research, October 23-October 27, 2002 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 1,007.

Which of the following three statements comes closest to expressing your overall view of the health care system in the United States…?  1. On the whole, the health care systems works pretty well and only minor changes are necessary to make it work better. 2. There are some good things in our health care system, but fundamental changes are needed. 3. Our health care system has so much wrong with it that we need to completely rebuild it. 13%  Minor changes56   Fundamental changes30   Completely rebuild it1    Don’t know/No answer Methodology:  Conducted by CBS News/New York Times, July 13, 2003-July 27, 2003 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult with an oversample of Hispanics (see note) sample of 3092. The sample included 2008 non-Hispanics and 1074 Hispanics. Results are weighted to reflect the actual ethnic distribution of the U.S. population. Data provided by The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut.

Which of the following three statements comes closest to expressing your overall view of the health care system in the United States?…On the whole, the health care system works pretty well and only minor changes are necessary to make it work better. There are some good things in our health care system, but fundamental changes are needed. Our health care system has so much wrong with it that we need to completely rebuild it. 11%  Minor changes57   Fundamental changes31   Completely rebuild it1    Don’t know/No answer Methodology:  Conducted by CBS News/New York Times, May 9, 2003-May 12, 2003 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 910. Data provided by The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut. 

Which of the following statements comes closest to expressing your overall view of the health care system in this country…? 22%  On the whole, the health care system works pretty well and only minor changes are needed to make it work better51   There are some good things about our health care system, but major changes are needed to make it work better25   The American health care system has so much wrong with it that we need to completely rebuild it3    Don’t know Survey by National Public Radio, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Methodology:  Fieldwork conducted by ICR–International Communications Research, October 23, 2002-October 27, 2002 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 1007.   

Which of the following statements comes closest to expressing your overall view of the health care system in this country…? 20%  On the whole, the health care system works pretty well and only minor changes are needed to make it work better57   There are some good things about our health care system, but major changes are needed to make it work better23   The American health care system has so much wrong with it that we need to completely rebuild it1    Don’t know Survey by Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, National Public Radio. Methodology:  Fieldwork conducted by ICR–International Communications Research, March 28, 2002-May 1, 2002 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 1205.  

Which of the following three statements comes closest to expressing your overall view of the health care system in the United States?… On the whole, the health care system works pretty well and only minor changes are necessary to make it work better. There are some good things in our health care system, but fundamental changes are needed. Our health care system has so much wrong with it that we need to completely rebuild it. 12%  Minor charges61   Fundamental changes25   Completely rebuild it2    Don’t know/No answer Methodology:  Conducted by CBS News, July 13, 1999-July 14, 1999 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 722. Data provided by The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut. 

Which of the following three statements comes closest to expressing your overall view of the health care system in the United States?…On the whole, the health care system works pretty well and only minor changes are necessary to make it work better. There are some good things in our health care system, but fundamental changes are needed. Our health care system has so much wrong with it that we need to completely rebuild it. 13%  Minor changes55   Fundamental changes30   Completely rebuild it3    Don’t know/No answer Methodology:  Conducted by CBS News/New York Times, July 19, 1998-July 21, 1998 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 979. Data provided by The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut.