Voters and Health Reform in the 2008 Presidential Election

This analysis, published in the November 6, 2008, New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), finds that seven in ten registered voters say major changes are needed in the U.S. health care system. The article is the second in a series of reports published in NEJM examining how the election can provide insights about future health policy. The article examines the public’s perceptions of the state of the American health care system, the role of health care as a 2008 election issue, and the contrasting health policy views of registered voters who intend to vote for Senator McCain and Senator Obama. The findings are based on a Kaiser/Harvard survey of registered voters in September, as well as other surveys this year and historical Election Day exit polls.

The article, “,” was written by Harvard School of Public Health Professor of Health Policy Robert J. Blendon, Sc.D.; Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew E. Altman, Ph.D.; Harvard Opinion Research Program Managing Director John M. Benson, M.A.; Kaiser Vice President and Director of Public Opinion and Survey Research Mollyann Brodie, Ph.D.; Harvard Opinion Research Program Assistant Director Tami Buhr, A.M.; Kaiser Associate Director of Public Opinion and Survey Research Claudia Deane, M.A.; and Kaiser Public Opinion and Survey Research staff Sasha Buscho.

icon_news_release.gifNews Release

New England Journal of Medicine Article (free access)

Survey Toplines

KFF Headquarters: 185 Berry St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107 | Phone 650-854-9400
Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 | Phone 202-347-5270

www.kff.org | Email Alerts: kff.org/email | facebook.com/KFF | twitter.com/kff

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.