Americans Want Presidential Candidates to Address Chronic Disease in Health Reform Proposals
75 Percent More Likely to Support a Candidate Who Makes Preventing and Managing Chronic Disease A Primary Part of Their Health Proposal
WASHINGTON -- In a recent survey, 91 percent of Americans believe it is important for 2008 Presidential candidates to have a plan to reduce chronic disease. In addition, 81 percent believe the United States should prioritize our health care dollars to "Invest more in preventative measures to ensure that disease are prevented or kept from becoming more serious." These are two of the key finding in a recent survey done for the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), which recently launched nationally and in the three key primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
"This survey provides powerful evidence that we need to reframe the health care reform debate to focus on chronic disease, which is the true driver of rising health care costs in this country," said Ken Thorpe, Ph.D., Executive Director of the PFCD and Chair of Health Policy and Management at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a former White House health policy advisor.
"While the public is unaware of the staggering annual death toll from chronic disease, they clearly understand the importance of making disease prevention and better management of chronic disease a priority on our national health agenda," said Mark B. McClellan, M.D., PhD., a PFCD Advisory Board Member and visiting senior fellow at the AEI-Brooking Joint Center on Regulatory Affairs and former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
"We all know the challenges presented by the current health care reform debate. These results show a path for candidates to take toward reform that is focused on issues that are less partisan and get right at the heart of the issue - chronic disease is the key driver of rising health care costs in this country and if we want to make care more affordable we have to tackle this problem head on," said Thorpe.
The key chronic disease drivers are:
- Chronic diseases represent more than 75% of health care costs and more than 70% of the deaths in the U.S. More than 133 million Americans have a chronic disease;
- Two-thirds of spending over the past 25 years is attributable to the rise in rates of treated chronic disease. OF the $314.4 billion in cost increase between 1987 and 200, $211 billion is attributable to the rise in the prevalence of treated chronic disease;
- Thirty percent of the increase in health spending since 1987 is due to doubling of the rate of obesity during that time; and,
- Only 56 percent of the chronically ill patients receive the recommended preventive health care services.
The results of the survey include:
- Most Americans believe that less than 50 percent of health care spending is due to chronic disease. While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that chronic disease accounts for more than 75 percent of all health care spending in the U.S., the American public believes it is far less. Most adults interviewed (48 percent) believe chronic disease accounts for less than 50 percent of all spending, 34 percent think it accounts for between 50 percent and 100 percent and 18 percent are not sure what the percentage is.
- Women are more likely than men to believe more than half of all health care spending is related to chronic disease (39% to 27%), but a plurality of both women and men still believe it is less than 50 percent of all health care spending.
- Residents in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina provide similar responses when asked about the percentage of health care spending due to chronic disease.
- Eighty-one percent of adults interviewed believe the U.S. should prioritize our health care dollars to "invest more in preventative measures to ensure that diseases are prevented or kept from becoming more serious," while 12 percent say the dollars should be spent "more to treat diseases once they have happened."
At least 74% of every demographic subgroup's members choose to invest in preventative measures.
Residents of New Hampshire (89%) are significantly more likely than those in South Carolina (82%) to choose preventative measures, with Iowa residents (86%) in the space between the other two. - U.S. adults provide a pretty accurate estimation of the percent of Americans who have at least one chronic disease. According to the CDC, 45% of Americans have at least one chronic disease; in our survey, most adults estimate that between 20 percent and 60 percent of Americans are afflicted with at least one chronic disease.
- Women tend to provide both more accurate and also higher estimates than do men. Most women believe between 30 and 60 percent of Americans have at least one chronic disease whereas most men guess it's between 20 and 50 percent. More than twice as many women than men, however, believe the figure is greater than 60 percent of Americans (31% of women estimate this level compared to 11% of men).
- The same general range is provided by residents in the three early nominating states.
- Americans seriously underestimate the percent of deaths in the U.S. caused by chronic disease. While the CDC pegs the range as seven out of ten, just 15 percent of Americans believe it is at least that high. More than half (55%) believe it is less than 50 percent of deaths. Most - 56 percent - put the range between 20 and 60 percent.
- Similar to the previous question on the percent of Americans with at least one chronic disease, women are more likely than men to place the deaths figure higher (and in this case more accurately), with 21 percent of women saying at least 70 percent of deaths are caused by chronic disease compared to the 10 percent of men who place the figure this high. A majority of men (55%) believe the figure is between 20 and 60 percent while 58 percent of women think it's between 40 and 90 percent of deaths.
- The figures in the early nominating states are consistent with the national numbers.
- Americans are divided about how much of the death and disability caused by chronic disease can be prevented. Overall, 44 percent of Americans believe we can prevent nearly all or most of the disease and disability associated with chronic disease whereas 53 percent feel only some/not much/none at all can be prevented. A plurality of Americans (49%) believe that just "some" of the disease and disability associated with chronic disease can be prevented.
- Almost nine in 10 Americans say they would be likely to support a 2008 presidential candidate who made preventing and managing chronic disease a primary part of his or her health care plan. Equal percentages say they would be very likely (43%) or somewhat likely (43%) to support such a candidate, whereas 10 percent would not be likely to back this candidate. At least three-quarters of the members of each demographic subgroup examined are likely to support this candidate.
- Women (50% very likely) are significantly more likely to support a candidate focusing on chronic disease than are men (37%).
- Adults 50-64 years of age are among those most likely to say they are very likely to support such a presidential candidate (54% very likely).
- Democrats (56% very likely) and Independents (42%) are much more likely than Republicans (29%) to say they would be very likely to back a candidate whose health care plan includes a major focus on chronic disease prevention and management.
- Liberals (55% very likely) and moderates (46%) are significantly more likely than are conservatives (32%) to be very likely to support this candidate.
- African Americans (70% very likely) are significantly more likely than Latino Americans (46%) or white Americans (39%) to be very likely to support this candidate.
About the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease
The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) is a national coalition of patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability, and rising health care costs in the U.S.: chronic disease.
The PFCD's mission is to:
- Challenge policymakers - in particular, the 2008 presidential candidates - to make the issue of chronic disease a top priority and articulate how they will address the issue through their health care proposals
- Educate the public about chronic disease and potential solutions for individuals, communities, and the nation
- Mobilize Americans to call for change in how policymakers, governments, employers, health institutions, and other entities approach chronic disease
Leaders in the effort represent more than 50 leading organizations from across health care, business and labor including Aetna, American Academy of Family Physicians, Alliance for Aging Research, American Academy of Physician Assistants, American College of Nurse Practitioners, American College of Preventive Medicine, American Hospital Association, American Pharmacists Association Foundation, Disease Management Association of America, Kerr Drug, Integrated Benefits Institute, International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, NAACP, Milken Institute, National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, National Association of Manufacturers, National Medical Association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Service Employees International Union, Sheet Metal Workers International Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and YMCA of the USA, among others.
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