House of Representatives’ Health Care Reform Plan Surveys

AARP conducted a series of surveys of AARP members to assess the importance of several elements of the House of Representatives’ Health Care Reform Bill.

This survey series consists of a national sample as well as separate samples for each of the following states: Florida, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Washington State, Minnesota, Ohio, Connecticut, Maine and Colorado.  An additional survey of AARP Members in Southeast Florida was conducted.  This survey excluded members that were previously interviewed in the state-wide Florida survey.

These surveys find that among AARP members, strong majorities reported that many of the bill’s key provisions were convincing reasons to support the legislation.  In the national sample, this includes strictly limiting insurers from charging much higher premiums because of age (68%), closing the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” (69%), and improving coverage for critical preventive services like cancer screenings (77%).

The telephone survey, fielded October 30 to November 8, 2009, was conducted with randomly selected members of AARP.  The nationally representative sample of 803 AARP members has a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.  The state and regional samples, which range from 401 to 453, are representative of AARP members in that state or region.  All media inquiries should be directed to AARP Media Relations at 202-434-2560.  For further information about the survey series, contact Gerard Rainville at 202-434-6295.