The American Public on Health Care-The Missing Perspective - (Page 20)

What We Learned While the American people are very aware of the disparities in access to care, they also know that there will be a significant cost involved in expanding coverage among the uninsured, and most are not willing to pay more in taxes to cover uninsured Americans. Other Key Findings A Tale of Two Systems Most Americans are aware of a distressing discrepancy between the excellent health care accessible to some and the poor care available to others (see Figure K ). Income is a huge driver in how people perceive the availability of quality care in their area or community. 75% of those who earn $75k or more rate the availability of care in their area as Excellent (32%) or Good (43%) compared to just 54% of those who earn less than $35k (15% excellent, 39% good) (see Figure L). Two-thirds of Americans (65%) rate access to care for the uninsured as poor (36%) or fair (29%), while only 10% say it is excellent. Some regional differences are apparent: Southerners are more likely than those in the Northeast to say access for the uninsured is poor in their area (41% vs. 30%). Concern About the Cost of Expanding Coverage While the American people are very aware of the disparities in access to care, they also know that there will be a significant cost involved in expanding coverage among the uninsured, and most are not willing to pay more in taxes to cover uninsured Americans (see Figure M ). Willingness to pay more in taxes varies by both age and income. Younger people and those with annual incomes above $75,000 are the most willing to pay more (see Figure N, O). Of those who are willing to pay higher taxes, nearly half (48%) would pay up to $100 per year or more (see Figure P ). 20

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