Health Care - Fall 2003

 

Health care, more specifically the costs of health care and the insurance that helps pay for it is a major factor accounting for a drop in optimism among state residents. Just 36% of respondents are satisfied with the costs of their health care. This is a drop from 49% six months and one year ago.
Although a strong majority of respondents in the past two surveys reported that they were satisfied with the quality of care, almost half (47%) of respondents in this survey think that better access to quality care would contribute a great deal to their quality of life. Moreover, 63% say that more affordable health care would enhance their quality of life a great deal. As noted elsewhere, the vast majority of respondents expect the costs of health care to become a more serious problem in the future.
According to these respondents, the uninsured rate is holding steady at 9%. Affordability continues to be the biggest impediment for most people without coverage. Among those people with insurance, almost nine in ten (87%) expect the cost of their insurance to increase during the next year. Respondents think the predominant factors contributing to escalating costs are the cost of drugs (24%), doctors’ fees (18%), and hospital administration fees (13%). Dozens of other factors, including malpractice insurance, insurers’ procedures, over-utilization, new technologies, and staffing shortages, also contribute to rising costs according to respondents.
Summary Health care and health insurance costs are surfacing as critical factors affecting the quality of life for most Wisconsin residents. People 35 to 44 years old are most affected by health care costs. Seven in ten say they are dissatisfied with the costs of health care. Two thirds of respondents with children are somewhat or very dissatisfied with their health care costs. Residents of Wisconsin think that many factors contribute to the costs of health insurance, many of which, such as over-utilization, inefficiencies, and hospital and insurer procedures, are correctable.