Field Poll: California Residents Concerned About Health Care

Eighty-one percent of California residents believe the government should provide all Californians with access to affordable health care, according to a Field Poll released Tuesday, the Stockton Record reports (Shaw, Stockton Record, 1/3).

The Field Poll surveyed 1,200 randomly selected voters from Nov. 17, 2006, to Dec. 12, 2006. The findings have a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points (Chorneau, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/3). Ten percent of the respondents were uninsured, according to Mark DiCamillo, poll director (Miller/Hines, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 1/3).

The poll also found that:

• 65% of respondents said pharmaceutical companies contributed to rising health care costs;
  
• 75% of respondents are concerned that employers could reduce contributions toward health coverage (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 1/3);
  
• 60% of respondents said fraud, waste and emergency services costs for the uninsured contributed to rising health care costs;
  
• Almost 40% of respondents expect problems with the health care system to grow more serious (Benson, Sacramento Bee, 1/3); and
  
• The highest levels of dissatisfaction with the health care system were reported by respondents ages 50 to 64 and those whose annual incomes exceed $40,000 (Zapler, MediaNews/Contra Costa Times, 1/3).