Legal drug imports favored, poll says
Prescription benefit for seniors also seen to ease rising costs
WASHINGTON -- As drug bills soar, a solid majority of Americans say they want Congress to legalize the importation of lower-priced medicines from Canada and Europe, and would be willing to pay higher taxes to provide prescription drug benefits to senior citizens, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Although those polled expressed satisfaction with their insurance and medical care, the nationwide survey revealed deep anxiety about the future of the nation's safety net, with more than half saying they are especially fearful of losing health coverage or not being able to afford it in the future.
Eight in 10 said that providing health insurance to all Americans was more important than holding down taxes. The survey also found that 6 in 10 would prefer a system that covers everyone over the present arrangement, in which nearly 44 million people lack insurance. That support drops below half if such a system meant a limited choice of doctors or waiting lists for care.
Thirteen months before the next general election, the public's perceptions of the health care system track the partisan and economic splits seen on a range of issues. By comfortable margins, Republicans and the affluent reported being content with the quality of care in the United States; minorities, Democrats, the uninsured, and individuals in poor health voice the most complaints.
President Bush, in keeping with previous polls, receives some of his lowest job performance ratings in the area of health -- particularly in providing prescription drug coverage for retirees and tackling the cost and availability of insurance. Only 1 in 3 people said they approved of his handling of those areas, compared with half who supported his efforts in Iraq and 67 percent who approved of the president's prosecution of the war against terror.
The results come as policy makers are wrangling over the very health care issues on which voters are demanding action. Republican congressional leaders failed to meet a self-imposed deadline Friday for settling on the outlines of a Medicare prescription drug benefit.
In conjunction with those negotiations, lawmakers are debating whether to permit consumers to import prescription drugs. In a lopsided, bipartisan vote in July, the House approved a plan to legalize the practice, also known as reimportation because many medicines brought in from other countries are manufactured in the United States.
The poll, conducted Oct. 9-13, found strong bipartisan support for opening drug markets, despite warnings by the Food and Drug Administration that it cannot guarantee the safety of those products. Two-thirds said they believe drug importation should be legal; 12 percent said they or a family member had shopped for medicine outside the United States in order to save money.
Concern over the price of health insurance rises steadily with age. A majority of those under 30 are not worried about premium costs, whereas about 6 in 10 between ages 30 and 50 say they do worry, along with 7 in 10 of those over 50. Democrats, minorities, and lower-paid workers also expressed greater fears about losing coverage.
The poll surveyed 1,000 randomly selected adults. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
