Kansas City-area residents wary of rush to reform health care

Kansas City-area residents are worried about funding health care reform and don’t want additional national debt or new taxes in order to achieve reform, according to a survey released Wednesday by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.According to the executive summary of the survey, titled “Putting A Local Face On A National Issue: 2009 Public Opinion Survey On Health Care Reform,” area residents fear further unemployment, risings costs for health care coverage and losing their health insurance.The survey results were released at a health summit presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City at Liberty Memorial Auditorium. Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole and political analyst Robert Laszewski were to speak at the invitation-only event.VVV Research & Development Inc. conducted the survey of local physicians, hospital CEOs, brokers, large and small Kansas City employers and the general public. Topics included general understanding of reform, acceptance of reform plans, insurance mandates, financing options/taxes, personal accountability and methods to control health care costs.The survey showed big differences between the responses of so-called health care insiders and those of the general public.Although 75 percent of insiders rated the performance of President Obama and Congress on health care reform as “very or somewhat poor,” only 49 percent of the general public responded in the same manner.But a huge split split showed in a series of questions regarding government participation in health care coverage.To the question: “Several health care reform plans are still being debated in (Washington). Please indicate your current level of support for”:• Keep our current health care system: overall, 34.6 percent; insiders, 53.5 percent; general public, 31.8 percent.• Create government-run single payer for all individuals: overall, 23.1 percent; insiders, 2.3 percent; general public, 26.1 percent.• Create new public option that would compete with private plans: overall, 42.9 percent; insiders, 8.4 percent; general public, 47.7 percent.• Create new state-run health co-ops with federal guidelines: overall, 30.4 percent; insiders, 13.1 percent; general public, 35.2 percent.Responses from insiders and the general public were somewhat closer on the question of mandated coverage with possible fines for noncompliance. Sixty-eight percent of insiders supported the concept, compared with 49 percent of the general public.The survey also indicates that Kansas City-area residents:• Want subsidies for the poor of at least 100 percent of poverty level initially, not 200 percent to 400 percent.• Want health care reform that requires coverage mandates with guaranteed issue and waives pre-existing conditions.• Are worried about a physician shortage compromising quality of care.VVV Research & Development, after reviewing the survey results, observed that:• Health care insiders are concerned that Washington is “rushing to reform” and not focusing enough on details. They want more focus on stabilizing Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.• Kansas City-area providers want effective tort reform enacted to reduce malpractice costs and eliminate unnecessary and costly tests and procedures.• Preferred sources for funding reform include “sin taxes” on cigarettes and unhealthy foods; fraud and abuse auditing; Medicare Advantage cuts; elimination of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA); creation of a new private-payer tax; and taxes on health benefit plans.The study was conducted in two phases: a qualitative phase involving one-on-one interviews and focus groups, and a quantitative phase involving online/written surveys. Ninety Kansas City-area health care insiders participated in the survey.A general public sample also was surveyed, comprising two audiences: a Kansas City public online panel of 2,000 and 2,165 members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. The study claims a 95 percent confidence level and a 3.9 percent margin of error.

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