| BOSTON — Residents find the Commonwealth’s doctors, hospitals, and health insurers provide excellent care, and few had difficulty obtaining service. But when asked to identify the single most important health care issue Massachusetts faces today, residents named cost twice as often as any other, according to a public opinion survey conducted by Mass Insight Corporation and released recently to attendees at the Mass. Medical Society’s 6th Annual State of the State Health Care Leadership Forum held at its headquarters in Waltham.
The percentage of respondents for whom health care costs are a financial burden has increased noticeably since last year. As compared to co-pays, prescription drug costs, and insurance deductibles, more than one-third (34{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5}) found insurance premiums burdensome, up from 28{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} last year. More than threequarters of residents think malpractice insurance is a major problem for doctors.
“Residents have astutely identified two important threats to our excellent health care system,” stated Corinne Broderick, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. “Steadily increasing costs and the increasingly corrosive impact of our dysfunctional medical liability system must be addressed to assure that good health care is available to all who need it, when they need it.”
The annual survey also revealed consumers are calling on a collaborative effort among government, business and health care leaders to work together to reform the health care system, while protecting the quality of care they have come to expect; 82{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of respondents also said health care and hospital research are very important in terms of creating new jobs over the next five years.
In announcing the report, William H. Guenther, president of Mass Insight Corporation, a non-partisan public policy research and economic development consulting firm, which compiles and publishes the survey, told the group, “The public realizes that Massachusetts is more than a consumer of health care. Our institutions are among our biggest employers and are key drivers of our science and technology-based economy. Continued advancement in health care technology and creating strategic alliances among business, teaching hospitals and university systems are crucial in overcoming cost issues and strengthening the economy.”
The annual Mass Insight Consumer Attitudes Report on Health Care is part of a coordinated effort by Mass Insight Corporation to encourage leaders to join together to resolve some of the challenges facing the health care system for Massachusetts residents and businesses. Sponsored by Massachusetts Medical Society and Children’s Hospital, the survey addresses four key areas in health care: costs and access, doctors and hospitals, coverage and insurers, and issues and solutions. |
