SUMMARIES OF  
KAISER   REPORTS
Apr 2004 - April 2005

• Survey Discusses Attitudes Regarding Health Care Agenda
• Seniors' Views Of Medicare Drug Law
• Public's Knowledge And Views On Social Security
• Americans Value Drugs, Blame Drug Makers For Rising Costs
• Role Of Health Insurance In Reducing Racial Disparities In Health Care
• New Medicare Ppo Regions
• Brief On The Racial/Ethnic Divide In Health Care
• Nearly Half Of All Consumers Are Concerned About Safety Of Health Care

SURVEY DISCUSSES ATTITUDES REGARDING HEALTH CARE AGENDA

Americans favor reducing jury awards in malpractice lawsuits and drug importation from Canada, but rank them relatively low on a list of 12 health care priorities for President Bush and Congress to address this year, according to a new post-election survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.  While supporting both, the public places greater emphasis on limiting the number of lawsuits than on capping awards, and generally favors higher caps for non-economic damages than the $250,000 being discussed by President Bush.

This survey of almost 1,400 adults was conducted following the November election, and found that just over a quarter (26%) of the public cites reducing malpractice jury awards as a top priority for the President and Congress, ranking 11th on the list, just ahead of increasing federal funding for stem cell research (21%).  Just under a third (31%) cite allowing drugs to be imported from Canada as a top priority, ranking eighth on the priority list.

At the top of the list, almost two thirds (63%) of U.S. adults cite lowering the costs of health care and health insurance as a top priority for the President and Congress, followed by making Medicare more fiscally sound for the future (58%) and increasing the number of Americans with health insurance (57%).

Overall, U.S. adults rank health care issues third when asked to name the single most important priority for the President and Congress to address.  Fewer Americans cite health care issues (10%) than the war in Iraq (27%) or economic issues (17%).   Terrorism/national security (10%) tied with health care as the third-most cited issue. CLICK HERE for the original Kaiser survey . 

NEARLY HALF OF ALL CONSUMERS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT SAFETY OF HEALTH CARE

Five years after a groundbreaking Institute of Medicine report focused attention on medical errors in hospitals, Americans say that they do not believe that the nation's quality of care has improved. Four in 10 people say the quality of health care has gotten worse in the past five years, while 17% say the quality of care has gotten better and nearly four in 10 (38%) say it has stayed the same. Nearly half (48%) of U.S. residents say they are concerned about the safety of the medical care that they and their families receive, and more than half (55%) say they are dissatisfied with the quality of health care in this country - up from 44% who reported the same in a similar survey conducted four years ago (in 2000). The complete survey results are available .

CLICK HERE for the reports and related materials

SENIORS' VIEWS OF MEDICARE DRUG LAW

Overall, 38% of seniors say that they would be very likely to turn to their doctor, while about three in 10 say they are very likely to turn to a Medicare website or phone number or to their pharmacist. Seniors say they are most likely to turn to doctors, pharmacists and Medicare for help in making decisions about the new drug law, but most doctors and pharmacists won't have the time or the knowledge to provide personal assistance.  That's going to put enormous pressure on the government to inform the 41 million people with Medicare about their options.  It's a huge implementation challenge. The full survey results are available . 

CLICK HERE for the original Kaiser documents  

PUBLIC'S KNOWLEDGE AND VIEWS ON SOCIAL SECURITY

A survey assesses what adults in the United States understand about the way Social Security is run and financed now and captures their views of various options for reforming the system.  The survey was conducted and analyzed jointly by The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University. The complete survey results are available

CLICK HERE for the original Kaiser document

AMERICANS VALUE DRUGS, BLAME DRUG MAKERS FOR RISING COSTS

Some 78% of adults say that prescription drugs have had a positive impact on the lives of Americans, while 91% say that drug companies make an important contribution to society by researching and developing new drugs.  However, 70% say drug companies put profits ahead of people, compared with 24% who say drug companies are most concerned with developing new drugs that save lives and improve quality of life. Some 59% say prescription drugs increase overall medical costs because they are so expensive.  Americans express confidence in the ability of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure the safety of prescription drugs, with 77% of adults saying they are "very" or "somewhat" confident in the FDA's ability to ensure drug safety. [EINO: putting the lie to the argument once again that American don't trust federal agencies to regulate industries.] A press release about the new findings is available .

CLICK HERE for the original Kaiser document  

ROLE OF HEALTH INSURANCE IN REDUCING RACIAL DISPARITIES IN HEALTH CARE

Evidence from sentinel studies specifically designed to quantify the contribution of health insurance to racial/ethnic disparities in access to care is reviewed.  The studies provide evidence that racial/ethnic disparities in access to a regular source of care, the common access measure across all of the studies, could be substantially reduced by greater equity in health insurance coverage among Hispanics and African Americans. This paper can be found online http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/24/2/398 A Kaisernetwork.org webcast is also available .

CLICK HERE for the original Kaiser document . 

NEW MEDICARE PPO REGIONS

Characteristics of the 26 new Medicare Advantage regions and the extent to which Medicare Advantage plans, including Medicare HMOs, PPOs and private fee-for-service plans, are already available in each region were analyzed.  In nine regions, at least 80% of beneficiaries now have access to a Medicare HMO plan, while in 7 other regions, less than a third of people with Medicare now have access to a local Medicare HMO plan. The paper is available

CLICK HERE for the original Kaiser document . 

BRIEF ON THE RACIAL/ETHNIC DIVIDE IN HEALTH CARE

Policy challenges and opportunities for addressing racial/ethnic disparities in health care are highlighted. The Institute of Medicine report, Unequal Treatment, recommended the use of a comprehensive, multi-level strategy to address health care disparities. This brief reviews evidence underpinning five broad areas of policy initiatives that flow from the IOM recommendation: 1)Raising public and provider awareness of racial/ethnic disparities in care; 2) Expanding health insurance coverage; 3) Improving the number and capacity of providers in underserved communities; 4) Improving the quality of care; and 5) Increasing the knowledge base on causes and interventions to reduce disparities. This issue brief is available online .

CLICK HERE for the survey.