A recent poll conducted by the Institute of Social Science Research at ASU revealed that 86 percent of people in the Southwest think the United States health care system is in need of reform.

The results, based on a 41-question telephone poll, were released June 9 and revealed that a majority of southwesterners think U.S. health care needs of “some reform,” and more than half, 53 percent, believe there is a need for a “great deal” of reform, according to the Institute of Social Science Research Web site.

The poll was administered using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing system and was conducted by professionally qualified samplers at ASU, said Alan Artibise, executive dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and executive director of the poll.

Polling was held March 30 through May 10 and used a random sample of 501 adults in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Nevada.

“There are no other polls of this kind,” Artibise said. “It is really important that we conduct this research because 15 percent of the country’s population lies in the Southwest. It is a distinct region and we may not have the same opinions due to our kind of demographic.”

The Institute of Social Science Research is a University-wide research center that provides technical support for research studies of this nature.

This was the fourth poll the ISSR has conducted, and although the technique and size of the poll remain the same, the subject focus changes every year, allowing the center to conduct valid and practical research, Artibise said.

To decide the subject matter on which to focus, the ISSR holds an informal poll among faculty and administration in order to detect the importance and impact of certain issues, he said.

Health care is expected to be on the agenda this year in Washington, making it an exceptionally timely subject for focus.

“A research of this kind is very important,” said Marjorie Baldwin, director of the School of Health Management and Policy in the W.P. Carey school. “Recognizing that we are not happy is the first step to helping our health care system. Issues must be addressed before they can be reformed.”

In health care, there are three major things that must be executed in order to create and maintain stability, Baldwin said.

“There must be high-quality health care, access to this health care and it has to be obtainable at a reasonable cost,” she said. “To do all three is really a tough challenge, especially with the current economic situation.”

The results of the survey bring attention to the fact that people are worried about the current health care system in the U.S. Artibise said there has been a major shift of opinions in Americans in regard to health care.

The poll shows that 53 percent of all respondents are “strongly” or “somewhat” in favor of the U.S. government guaranteeing health insurance.

Another conclusion of the survey comes in the strong concern about health care costs and coverage. Eighty-nine percent of respondents in the poll said they were covered by health insurance.

Of those 89 percent, 72 percent said they were “somewhat” or “very” concerned about cost increases in the next year, and 51 percent said they were concerned that their coverage would decrease.

Half of those polled said they were “somewhat” or “very” concerned about whether their coverage would cover expenses related to “serious or catastrophic” health problems.

“Attitudes are shifting in ways that people may have not predicted,” Artibise said. “There is an openness to change and this survey is hard proof of that.”

ASU seems to be the only university conducting a formal regional public poll of this kind, according to the ISSR web site. Baldwin said the results could help providers recognize systematic problems and begin to fix them.

Artibise said the poll is a very valuable piece of a very complex puzzle.
“It was distributed widely, and it is my hope that federal representatives will read it with great interest and use it in forthcoming debates on these issues,” he said.

Reach the reporter at
christine.harvey@asu.edu