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LightSource Poll by KJT Group Shows Americans' Disdain for the Cost of Reforming Health Care

Nearly three in four Americans are not willing to pay any additional income to achieve universal health insurance coverage. Among Democrats, two-thirds fell into this category, while only 16% of Republicans report any willingness to contribute financially to achieve universal coverage.

       Amount entered by     How much additional would you be willing to 
          respondent           pay each year to achieve truly universal 
                                health insurance coverage for all U.S. 
                                              citizens?

                         Total      Democrat      Republican     Independent
    $0                   73.9%       66.4%          83.7%           76.8%

    $1-50                 6.7%        6.7%           5.6%            6.8%

    $51-100               5.9%        9.2%           4.4%            1.9%

    More than $100       13.6%       17.7%           6.4%           14.4%

"Based on previous policy research findings, we might expect a relatively low willingness to pay for universal health care or any public programs for that matter. However, these findings suggest a real disconnect between the public and elected officials' current proposals," said Dr. Kenneth Tomaszewski, Ph.D., LightSource Director. "Achieving universal health care is just not the top priority, based on our recent findings."

When asked to identify the most important issue facing the U.S. at this moment, nearly half (42.8%) identified unemployment, while health care reform (15.0%) ranked third just behind the national debt (15.5%).

Despite this reluctance to support reform financially, 59.2% of Americans believe that health care is a right, and should be provided to all citizens regardless of their ability to pay.

Finally, while only 7.6% of respondents reported being very or extremely satisfied with the U.S. health care system, 20.6% reported being similarly satisfied with their health plan, and 45.6% reported being similarly satisfied with their personal physician.

This wave of the LightSource poll was conducted among 1,000 adults (18 years or older) between February 8 and February 17, 2010. This was a non-probability, stratified sample, collected via web-based interviews. As such margin of error cannot be accurately estimated. In addition to the results shown here, an oversample of 600 New York State residents was collected and is published separately. For more information such as a detailed methodology, or additional results from this wave of the LightSource, go to www.kjtgroup.com/press.html.

About LightSource: The LightSource poll is a nationally representative, online public-opinion poll conducted quarterly. The LightSource focuses on three primary topics: the economy, the health care system, and care giving trends. The LightSource employs stratified sampling, focusing on key factors such as age, gender, household income and U.S. geographic region to help ensure national representation.

About KJT Group: KJT Group (www.kjtgroup.com) is an innovative consulting and research company that provides data and insights into the evolving health care marketplace. KJT Group is a member of the National Council on Public Polls (NCPP), Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO), Academy Health, and the International Society for Pharmoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR).

About OTX Research: OTX (www.otxresearch.com) is a global research and consulting firm (18th largest U.S.) specializing a suite of multi-media research products to the marketing, entertainment and advertising communities. Its opt-in samples are obtained and managed through a number of sources to ensure a representative global population for online research.

SOURCE KJT Group