Americans Believe Proposals To Fix Health Care Are Inadequate

According to a recent survey, almost three-quarters of Americans believe the campaign proposals made by President-elect Barack Obama will not be enough to fix the current health care system, even though a majority of Americans expect an overhaul of the system within the first term of the Obama Administration.

The findings come from a survey of 1,000 Americans by the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The survey also found that 67 percent of Americans want federal health insurance programs expanded to cover all uninsured children.

In addition, 843 health industry leaders were questioned about their opinions on a possible health care overhaul. Seventy-four percent of those leaders support a mandate for all employers to offer or contribute to employee health insurance. Other initiatives that received broad support from industry leaders were investment in prevention programs for chronic illness (98 percent supported) and federal government funding for the adoption of health information technology (87 percent supported).

Some legislators, such as Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.), have already released their own health care reform proposals. While consumers, industry leaders, and Congress agree on the need for reform, some caution that the issues of tax treatment of health insurance and a coverage mandate will be sticking points between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.