June 28, 2007

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Health care reform has already emerged as a leading issue for the 2008 presidential election.  Listen to the podcast as Hyde Park CEO Jeffrey Sandman and National Polling Expert John Russonello of Belden Russonello & Stewart discuss why health care is such an important issue for voters and how they anticipate presidential candidates will respond to the growing demand for health reform.

Public Opinion Shift - Younger Americans Care More

Health care has always been an important issue for the American public and is currently ranked as the second most important issue for voters behind Iraq.  As the presidential race accelerates, health care will remain a prevalent issue as rising costs, lack of access to care and the staggeringly high numbers of uninsured Americans are demanding voters and candidates' attention.

For Russonello, the most interesting shift demographically is not the importance of health care, but who cares.  Recent public opinion research has shown that health care has become increasingly less of a senior citizen issue and more of a concern for all Americans.  Individuals between the ages of 17 to 29 years old are paying attention to this issue and strongly favor a single-payer insurance system, a shift from emphasis on privatization. 

Effective Persuasion by Presidential Candidates Will be Key

Both Sandman and Russonello believe that universal coverage will play a key role in the discussion about health reform.  While not unanimously accepted, it is being discussed by several presidential candidates as a possible solution to the current health care crisis. 

For candidates trying to explain their plans for health reform to the public, Sandman and Russonello offered that first and foremost, presidential hopefuls must be persuasive.  Success will lie not in explaining the details of a specific plan, but in the fervor of offering and being perceived as offering a possible solution.  When it comes to health care, there is no need to educate voters about problems with our current system - they are fully aware of a crisis in quality care and access.  Instead, voters need to be inspired by the solution being offered.