According to a new study in Health Affairs by (among others) the talented Kelly Hunt (now with the New York State Health Foundation), opinion surveys conducted in 2006 show that health care is an important but second-tier issue in terms of priorities for government action.
“The results suggest that in terms of priority for government action, health care is a second-tier issue. Today it ranks as the fourth most important issue for government to address, behind the war, the economy, and gasoline/oil prices/energy. This is a lower ranking for health care than in 1993, a time of major national debate about health care reform.
In the 2006 survey, health care was one of the top two issues for 13 percent of the population. This compares to 31 percent in 1993, when it was ranked second, and 9 percent in 2002, when it also ranked fourth.â€
Here is a link to the full article
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.25.w508
“The results suggest that in terms of priority for government action, health care is a second-tier issue. Today it ranks as the fourth most important issue for government to address, behind the war, the economy, and gasoline/oil prices/energy. This is a lower ranking for health care than in 1993, a time of major national debate about health care reform.
In the 2006 survey, health care was one of the top two issues for 13 percent of the population. This compares to 31 percent in 1993, when it was ranked second, and 9 percent in 2002, when it also ranked fourth.â€
Here is a link to the full article
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.25.w508