No doubt it’ll be the subject of much debate in the upcoming presidential election, but as it stands right now
80% of Americans want the U.S. healthcare system overhauled. Julie Steenhuysen of
Reuters reports:
Access to care, better coordination between different health providers and better flow of health information were among their chief complaints, the Harris Interactive poll found -- just as another poll found that health insurance costs have doubled for Americans since 1996.
"It's clear that our health care system isn't giving Americans the health care they need and deserve," said Karen Davis, president of the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund, which commissioned the survey.
Both major presidential candidates, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, have pledged to address problems with the U.S. health system. About 47 million Americans do not have insurance.
In the poll, which surveyed a random sample of 1,004 U.S. adults in May, 32 percent agreed the system needed complete rebuilding, while 50 percent thought it required fundamental change.
These views were similar regardless of income and insurance status, with 81 percent of those who were insured for the prior year and 89 percent who were uninsured during the prior year calling for either fundamental change or complete rebuilding.
Personally, this will be a MAJOR determining factor for deciding who I vote for. If not, I’ll be penciling in
Gilligan and the Skipper on my ballot again.
