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AARP Iowa Members Voice Strong Support for Health Reform

“After the past few weeks of well-documented concerns, myths, town hall protests, and far too often uncivil debate, this survey shows majorities of Iowa AARP members still believe change is necessary and the status quo is not sustainable,” said AARP Iowa State Director Bruce Koeppl. “AARP Iowa members want to see something done, and they don’t want to wait, especially when it comes to controlling costs, improving access, and strengthening Medicare.”

 

“This survey is a firm rebuttal of the notion that older Americans don’t want health care reform this year, and in fact it shows our members believe just the opposite,” said Koeppl. “A majority of Iowa AARP members 50+ think it is important for all Iowans to have access to affordable health care coverage, they believe our health care system needs major reform, and that Congress needs to take action on health reform this year.”

 

Koeppl said the survey also rejects the suggestion that older Americans are opposed to changes in Medicare. “Survey findings show that Iowa AARP members are almost unanimous in their support of reducing waste, fraud and abuse in the system, as well as overwhelmingly supportive of increasing preventive health programs in Medicare and revising the system to reward providers for high quality of care.”

 

Survey participants expressed strong opinions in four key areas:

 

Need for Health Care Reform: Two-thirds of Iowa members (63%) said the system needs major changes or a complete overhaul, with another 28 percent indicating at least minor changes are needed. 

 

Need for Health Care Reform Now: A majority of Iowans (75%) said it is important to them for Congress to enact new policies this year to improve the nation’s health care system, with more than half (57%) saying that it is extremely or very important to them.

Need for Access to Health Care: More than three-quarters (79%) said it is very important or extremely important that all Iowans have access to affordable, quality health care. Seventy-nine percent also support requiring health insurance companies to provide access to all who apply, regardless of pre-existing conditions or prior illness. 

 

Need for Medicare Reform: Iowa members are almost unanimous (96%) supporting steps to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare system; 87% support promoting Medicare programs that reward healthy behaviors; and 81% support reimbursing Medicare providers based on quality and outcomes of care rather than quantity of services provided.

 

In naming their top priorities for health reform among five choices, nearly two-thirds or 62% of Iowa members ranked controlling the overall costs of health care and health insurance as a top priority for reform, with 51% of members ranking reducing the number of Americans without health insurance a top priority. Forty-eight percent of members said improving the overall quality of health services and making health insurance available to everyone regardless of health status, are also top needs. Forty-four percent rated rewarding doctors and hospitals providing high quality of care at a lower cost as a top priority.

 

In addition, members were asked to consider six proposals in terms of personal importance for health care reform.  More than eight in 10 members agreed on the importance of two proposals -- allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for lower drug prices for enrollees (84%) and requiring health insurance companies to stop dropping people or increasing rates when people are sick (82%). The remaining four issues ranked as follows: 73% feel it is important to require health insurance companies to cover all, regardless of pre-existing conditions; 69% believe we should strengthen preventive health programs; 55% think all Americans should be required to have health insurance, with assistance for those who can’t afford it; and 53% think employers should be required to offer health insurance or pay into a public fund for health coverage.

 

When asked to rank how potential savings in Medicare should be spent, members are almost unanimous in their support of three ideas: Keeping Medicare premiums as affordable as possible (98%); keeping Medicare out-of-pocket costs as affordable as low as possible (93%) and providing support services for people on Medicare as they leave the hospital to avoid re-hospitalizations (93%). Seventy-four percent also support using Medicare savings to shrink the Medicare Part D prescription drug donut hole; 70% support increasing payments to doctors and hospitals that deliver high quality care and 63% support helping people ages 50 to 64 buy into the Medicare program. 

 

As Congress goes back to Washington after the August recess, Koeppl said AARP will be sharing the survey results with the Iowa delegation to ensure they know that Iowans 50+ still see the need for action now. “It is extremely important our leaders understand that despite all the negative noise, there is still consensus among Iowans 50+ that something should be done,” said Koeppl. In addition to meetings with members of Congress, Koeppl said AARP is actively engaged in a campaign to make health care more affordable and to improve quality for members and future generations including town hall meetings with members, advertising, direct mail and a van tour. 

  

AARP commissioned RDD Field Surveys to conduct the telephone survey of 500 Iowa AARP members age 50+ on Aug. 25 and 26, 2009. Members were selected at random from among the approximately 400,000 Iowans age 50+ members of AARP and screened for residence and voter registration. Survey responses were weighted to reflect the distribution of age, gender and Congressional district of voting of members in Iowa. The weighted distribution of survey participants yielded 49% men, 52% women; 45 % between the ages of 50-64, and 59% ages 65 and older. More than half of members are retired (57%), most have health coverage (93%) and half (52%) report they do not have a chronic medical condition. The survey has a sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percent. The full annotated survey, “2009 Iowa Health Care Reform Issues Poll” can be found at http://www.aarp.org/research/

 

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 35.5 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's 40 million members and Americans 50+; AARP Segunda Juventud, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

 

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