November 12, 2007

Voters from four early primary states identified health care as the top issue they want to hear about from presidential candidates, according to an AHA-commissioned poll released last week

The poll of voters from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada found that health care eclipses other important national priorities such as Iraq, illegal immigration, the economy and national security. 

The survey, conducted for the AHA by nationally recognized Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies and Democrat Stan Greenberg of Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research, showed strong support across the political spectrum for the broad goals of reducing health care costs and finding a way to ensure that everyone has coverage.

“Voters of all stripes want presidential candidates to address this key issue that touches the lives of every American,” said AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack. Pollack,  McInturff and Greenberg participated in a Nov. 6 Washington briefing by phone with reporters to discuss the survey’s findings. The briefing kicked off a series of media call-ins later in the day with officials from the New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa and Nevada hospital associations.

The polling on the public’s health care concerns is part of a broad-based AHA effort to make sure health care change is at the top of the political agenda for 2008 presidential and congressional candidates. The AHA and the state associations also are running print ads and posting billboard ads in the four states to reinforce the survey’s message that the public is looking for change.

According to the survey, nearly 30% of Nevada’s voters reported they had gone without health insurance coverage at some point during the past three years. The state’s poll results “reflect what hospitals in Nevada see every day,” said Bill Welch, president of the Nevada Hospital Association. In South Carolina, voters said health care is not meeting the needs of most of the state’s residents. “Voters understand that our health care system needs serious repair,” said Thornton Kirby, president and CEO of the South Carolina Hospital Association.

In New Hampshire, voters were especially interested in hearing candidates’ views on allowing physicians, hospitals and other providers to share medical information through technology. “Our health care system faces serious challenges and Americans want to hear the candidates’ ideas,” said New Hampshire Hospital Association President Mike Hill. Iowa Hospital Association spokesman Scott McIntyre agreed with those assessments, saying voters in his state and across the country want solutions.

According to the poll, nearly nine out of 10 voters favored changes to the nation’s health care system that include:

• providing health care coverage for everyone, with the government, individuals and employers contributing to the cost;
• making health care more efficient and affordable;
• harnessing the power of information technology to increase patient safety, lower costs and reduce paperwork so that doctors and nurses can spend more time with patients;
• ensuring people have access to preventive care and wellness programs so that people can lead healthier lives; and
• improving the quality of care so that every patient receives the right care at the right time.

A solid majority, 61%, say the presidential candidates should pay a “great deal” of attention to these ideas. Of those surveyed, 55% also believe Congress and the next president should increase funding for hospitals.

The changes favored by the voters in the four primary states complement the push for reform behind Health for Life: Better Health, Better Health Care, a hospital-inspired initiative to produce the best possible American health care system. Pollack described Health for Life as the “genesis of a grassroots effort that sends a clear message to political leaders and an unambiguous mandate to the next president and Congress: act now.”

The AHA has begun consultations with experts in clinical integration, quality, wellness promotion, health care efficiency and affordability, information use and technology and chronic care management to “drill down” on the issues identified as critical to the success of health care reform. Five of the six Health for Life advisory groups so far have met in the AHA’s Washington office, with the most recent sessions taking place Oct. 30 and Oct. 31 for the groups on best information, most efficient and affordable care, and focus on wellness. (See the list of those advisory group members on this page.)

Another part of the AHA’s efforts to focus candidates’ attention on health care is “Ask the Candidates,” a special brochure designed to put the candidates on record about how they would address America’s health care challenges. It places the issue of the uninsured, hospital resources and the future of health care front and center whenever a candidate may be appearing before the public.

The brochure includes four questions to ask of candidates:

• if elected, what steps would you take to provide health care coverage for all?
• what will you do to improve health and health care in America?
• how would you work to achieve changes in a bipartisan manner?
• what will you do to make sure America’s hospitals have the resources to meet their communities’ needs?

The AHA soon expects to send “Ask the Candidates” to leaders of its member hospitals and to post it at www.aha.org.

“The top priority for voters this election campaign is the future of health care in America,” the AHA’s Pollack observed. “We hope that at every town hall meeting, campaign rally and political debate, the candidates talk about their plan for improving health care.”

The top health care questions voteres want to ask the Presidential candidates:	% Very Interested
How would you work to make health care more efficient and affordable?	80%
What steps would you take to make sure people are able to keep their health coverage even if they get sick or change jobs?	78%
What would you do to improve health and health care in America?	76%
What steps would you take to ensure that health care is of the highest quality so that every patient receives the right care at the right time?	76%
What steps would you take to provide health care coverage for everyone?	74%

 

When asked to volunteer the topic voters would most like to hear the presidential candidates discuss, health care related issues eclipse all others - even Iraq!
	First Choice	Combined Choice
Health Issues		40%
Situation With Iraq		32%
Economy - Government		13%
Illegal Aliens/Immigration		13%
Terrorism/Nat'l Security		10%
Social Security/Aid to Elderly		8%
Education		7%
General Economy		7%
Foreign Policy		5%
Government		3%
Environment		2%
Crime		1%

 

Advisory Group on Focus on Wellness	Advisory Group on Most Efficient Affordable Care	Advisory Group on Best Information
John Bluford, Advisory Group Chair AHA Board of Trustees President & CEO Truman Medical Centers Robert O. Bonow, M.D. President, American Heart Association Professor, Division of Cardiology Northwestern University Medical School Jack Bresch, Associate Executive Director American Dental Education Association Sheila Franklin, Director, National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity Audrey Haynes, National Director, Government Relations and Policy YMVA of the USA Jane Horvath, Senior Director, Public Policy Merck & Co. Julia Lear, Director of George Washington University School of Public Health’s Center for Health and Health Care Dan Levy, M.D. President, Maryland Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics Gregory Lintjer, President Elkhart General Healthcare System Donna Mazyck, President National Association of School Nurses David McCarron, M.D. Managing Partner, Shaping America’s Youth Mark McClellan, M.D. Senior Fellow AEI Brookings Catherine McLaughlin, Director of the University of Michigan School of Public Health’s Economic Research Initiative of the Uninsured John O’Brien, President & CEO UMass Memorial Health Care Susan Polan, Associate Executive Director Public Affairs and Advocacy American Public Health Association Kathleen A. Sellick, President & CEO Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego Marc Smith, President Missouri Hospital Association Ken Thorpe, Chair School of Public Health at Emory University Reed Tuckson, M.D. Executive Vice President & Chief of Medical Affairs UnitedHealth Group Carol Watson, Senior Vice President, Clinical Services Mercy Medical Center Jim Willey, Director, Council on Dental Practice American Dental Association Anthony Wisniewski, Executive Director, Health Policy U.S. Chamber of Commerce	Teri G. Fontenot, Advisory Group Chair  AHA Board of Trustees President & CEO Woman’s Hospital Joanne Bauer, Kimberly Clark Corporation President of Kimberly Clark Healthcare Business Jennifer Boulanger, Director, Health Policy Johnson & Johnson Helen Darling, President National Business Group on Health Karen Ignagni, President & CEO America’s Health Insurance Plans Margaret H. Jordan, President & CEO Dallas Medical Resource Cleve Killingsworth, CEO Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Kevin Lofton, AHA Chairman President & CEO Catholic Health Initiatives Jim Mongan, M.D. President & CEO Partners HealthCare System Frank Opelkia, M.D. Chair, Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Committee American College of Surgeons Ron Pollack, Executive Director & Vice President Families USA Bill Roper, M.D. CEO UNC Health Care System John Rother, Policy Director AARP William Paul Rutledge President, Central Group HCA Ray Scheppach, Executive Director National Governors Association Dan Sisto, President Healthcare Association of New York State Anthony Tersigni, President & CEO Ascension Health Mary Wakefield, Center for Rural Health University of North Dakota Andy Webber, President & CEO National Business Coalition on Health William Zellmer Deputy Executive Vice President American Society of Health System Pharmacists	George Lynn, Advisory Group Chair Immediate Past Chairman AHA Board of Trustees President Emeritus AtlantiCare David Blumenthal, M.D. Director Institute for Health Policy at MGH/Partners Tucker Bonner, President and CEO King’s Daughters Hospital David Brailer, M.D. Chairman Health Evolution Partners John Castellani, President Business Roundtable Molly Coye, M.D., CEO Health Technology Center Carol Diamond, M.D., Managing Director Markle Foundation Mark Frisse, M.D. Professor of Biomedical Informatics Vanderbilt Center for Better Health Jeri Gillespie, Vice President, Human Resources Policy National Association of Manufacturers Newt Gingrich, Center for Health Transformation John Glaser, M.D. Vice President & Chief Information Officer Partners HealthCare Ray Grady, President, Hospitals & Clinics Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Jennifer Jackson, President & CEO Connecticut Hospital Association Steve Lampkin, Vice President, Benefits Compliance Wal-Mart, Inc. Mark Leavitt, M.D., Chair, Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology Janet Marchibroda, CEO e-Health Initiative and Foundation Maynard F. Oliverius, President & CEO Stormont-Vail HealthCare David B. Pryor, M.D. Senior Vice President, Clinical Excellence Ascension Health Sue Schade, Chief Information Officer Brigham and  Women’s Hospital Scott Serota, President & CEO Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Carla Smith, Executive Vice President North American Initiatives Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Todd A. Stottlemyer, President & CEO National Federation of Independent Business   Scott Wallace, President & CEO National Alliance for Health Information Technology