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Health Care the number one concern for Iowans. I'm just wondering what everyones thoughts are on this issues and where they see the candidates standing on these top issues?
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Des Moines Register
Published December 4, 2005
Greatest concern
According to an Iowa Poll of 801 adults, here are the leading problems Iowans say they would like Gov. Tom Vilsack and the 2006 Legislature to address:
1. HEALTH CARE
76 percent believe the rising cost of health care is a very serious problem.
2. GAS PRICES
65 percent are concerned with the increased cost of gasoline and heating.
3. DRUG COSTS
62 percent are concerned with the rising costs of prescription medicine.
4. DRUG ABUSE
60 percent of Iowans said drug abuse is a very serious problem.
5. JOB MARKET
51 percent are worried about Iowa's lack of good jobs.
5. GOVERNMENT
51 percent said excessive government spending is a very serious problem.
Health care cost is Iowans' top issue, Iowa Poll shows
By JONATHAN ROOS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Iowans' worries about soaring health care costs have reached epidemic proportions, a new Des Moines Register poll shows.
Many residents are looking to the Legislature for relief, even though the state's options appear to be limited.
The Iowa Poll shows that three-fourths of the state's adults consider the rising cost of health care and health insurance a very serious problem.
A 62 percent majority is just as concerned about the increasing expense of prescription drugs.
"People who don't have coverage through their employer, or don't have good coverage under their personal insurance, are really in a bad situation, because the cost of drugs keeps going up. The cost can be astronomical," said Edna Burton, 65, a semiretired legal assistant from Ottumwa.
"I buy generic drugs when possible," said Burton, a Republican.
The escalating cost of health care, including sharp increases in some employees' health plan expenses, is by far the most pressing issue that Iowans say they would like Gov. Tom Vilsack and the Legislature to tackle when the 2006 session starts Jan. 9. However, it's a complicated issue that some say requires action at the federal level.
"I wish the governor . . . would be able to do something about it, but I realize that's a pretty long shot," said Mike Llanos, a 25-year-old sales manager from Cedar Rapids.
Llanos is seeing a doubling of his share of the cost of family health insurance provided by his employer. He and his wife are also paying the medical expenses of his 58-year-old mother — about $2,000 annually for eight prescription drugs and another $1,000 for other medical costs.
Unable to work because of an injury and not eligible for disability coverage, "she's kind of stuck in the middle since she isn't able to pay for this and she isn't able to pay for that," said Llanos, a Democrat.
He and other poll participants were asked to rate nearly two dozen topics, ranging from crime to urban sprawl, that could be considered to be problems in Iowa.
Seventy-six percent of Iowa adults say the rising cost of health care and health insurance is a very serious problem, and an additional 16 percent rate it a fairly serious problem.
Among baby boomers, 86 percent think the problem is very serious.
Poll participants were also asked to identify which problems they consider the most important for the governor and Legislature to address next year. Rising health care costs was the runaway choice, at 40 percent.
A distant second, at 18 percent, was the increased cost of gasoline and home heating. Ranked third as a priority, at 15 percent, was the rising cost of prescription drugs.
The poll, taken last week, has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
Workers' contributions for health care expenses in the United States have nearly doubled since 2002, according to a survey by Hewitt Associates, a human resources firm. Employee costs including premiums and out-of-pocket expenses such as co-payments are projected to average $3,136 next year, which would be nearly 12 percent higher than this year's average of $2,810.
Employers' average medical cost for each worker in 2006 is projected to be $8,046, according to the nationwide survey.
Many Iowa lawmakers seem to be getting the message that a large number of their constituents are worried sick about health care costs.
Among legislators who accepted an invitation from the Register to share their opinions on issues similar to those in the poll, most from both parties agreed that the rising cost of health care and health insurance is a very serious problem.
There also was widespread agreement among legislators that the departure of large numbers of young people for job opportunities in other states poses a very serious problem for Iowa.
That issue didn't pack quite as much punch in the poll, with 38 percent of the state's adults saying the exodus of young people is a very serious problem.
About one-half of the Legislature's 150 members — including majorities of Senate Republicans and of House and Senate Democrats — participated in the survey. Most House Republicans did not.
Vilsack says he'll ask the Legislature to approve a plan, modeled after programs in Arizona and New York, to help small businesses and school districts with the cost of health care for their employees.
The Democratic governor wants to create an insurance pool of up to $40 million, using revenue from his renewed proposal to raise the cigarette tax by 80 cents a pack.
"This will allow us to moderate the costs of insurance . . . because you're spreading the risk out," Vilsack said.
Iowans often raise the health care cost issue with the governor on his travels about the state.
"School board members come and say, ‘You know, we'd really like to pay competitive salaries, but most of what we get in additional money has to go to health care.’ Or, you go to a small shop and talk to an employee," Vilsack said. "They're making 10 or 15 bucks an hour, which is not bad, but then they've got health care costs that continue to rise. They've got to choose between paying for health care insurance or buying a car or moving into a home."
In recent years the Legislature and governor have expanded programs extending health care coverage to children from families with modest incomes.
During the 2005 session, legislators revamped portions of Medicaid, the state-federal program providing health care for the poor.
Burton, the legal assistant from Ottumwa, says there are no easy solutions. Although she looks forward to the prescription drug coverage she'll have under Medicare starting in January, she's leery of talk of establishing a taxpayer-financed system of care for all Americans.
"Where other countries have it you have to wait a long time to see a doctor, and if you want to have surgery, it's an even longer wait," Burton said.
The poll shows a large political divide over whether lack of access to health care services is a very serious problem in Iowa. A 51 percent majority of Iowans who consider themselves Democrats say it is, but just 21 percent of Republicans feel that way.
Substantially more Democrats than Republicans also think a lack of good jobs, excessive tax cuts and poverty are very serious problems in Iowa.
The poll shows Iowans of all political stripes, including their representatives in the Legislature, have the fewest worries over whether Iowa has enough state parks and community attractions, such as museums and recreation centers.
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