With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act here to stay, most Americans remain pessimistic about health care, according to new research from WG Consulting. Three out of four anticipate that the cost and quality of care, access to medications and doctors, availability of treatment innovations and insurance costs and coverage all will stay the same or get worse.
Those who voted for Mitt Romney are more likely than supporters of President Obama to believe they will see the overall quality of health care decline when the PPACA is more fully implemented in 2014.
The uninsured are most optimistic about the PPACA, with one in three expecting an improvement in the quality of care, compared to just one in five insured voters. More than twice as many uninsured voters as insured voters also think they will be better off in terms of insurance coverage and costs, as a result of the PPACA.
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Twice as many African American and Hispanic voters as white voters think they will see improvements on cost of care. There also are major differences among age groups, with 39 percent of voters under 35 anticipating cost of care will get better—a view shared by just 19 percent of those 50 and older.
Voters also say they want pharmaceutical companies to play an active role in reforming health care. Three-quarters of voters think it's extremely important for the pharmaceutical industry to be involved in controlling and/or reducing drug costs.
In addition, almost two-thirds place the highest importance on pharmaceutical manufacturers working more closely with doctors to improve patients' health outcomes—and more than half feel strongly that the industry should provide more patient assistance programs for those in financial need. Almost half place extreme importance on pharma serving as an advocate to expand patient access to drugs.
Most (at 80 percent) also think it's extremely or somewhat important for pharmaceutical companies to produce educational materials on health care reforms for consumers, as well as to create web sites and literature for patients on their conditions and treatment options.
The WG Consulting research was part of the 2012 Penn Schoen Berland national post-election study. The online study was conducted among 1,202 American voters on November 9 and 10.
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