Health Policy (3)

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Health Policy (p. 3)

Data are from nationwide surveys of Americans 18 & older.

CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. Dec. 9-11, 2005. Nationwide.
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"As you may know, a virus known as 'bird flu' or 'avian flu' has killed some people in Asia. How confident are you that the federal government could handle an outbreak of bird flu in this country: very confident, somewhat confident, not too confident, or not confident at all?" N=1,003 adults, MoE ą 3
.
		Very Confident	Somewhat Confident	Not Too Confident	Not Confident At All	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	12/9-11/05	12	44	27	16	1
	10/21-23/05	14	38	25	22	1
.
"Are you worried that you or someone in your family will be the victim of the bird flu virus, or not?" Form A (N=503 adults, MoE ą 5)
.
		Worried	Not Worried	Unsure
		%	%	%
	12/9-11/05	20	78	2
	10/21-23/05	24	75	1
.
"Which comes closest to your view about the bird flu virus? It will not strike the United States at all. There will be a minor outbreak in the United States. There will be a major outbreak in the United States, but it will not create a crisis. OR, It will strike the United States and create a crisis." Form B (N=500 adults, MoE ą 5)
.
		Will Not Strike U.S.	Minor Outbreak	Major Outbreak	A Crisis	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	12/9-11/05	14	63	13	8	2

CBS News/New York Times Poll. Dec. 2-6, 2005. N=1,155 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
						.
"How much have you heard or read about the Medicare prescription drug benefit which is scheduled to begin in 2006: a lot, some, not much, or nothing at all?"
						.
		A Lot	Some	Not Much	Nothing At All	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	12/2-6/05	19	31	27	22	1
	10/3-5/05	15	35	31	19	0
						.
	"From what you've heard or read, in general how easy or difficult is the Medicare prescription drug plan to understand? Is it very easy to understand, somewhat easy to understand, somewhat difficult to understand, or very difficult to understand?"
						.
			%
	Very easy		1
	Somewhat easy		11
	Somewhat difficult		32
	Very difficult		25
	Unsure		9
						.
	(NOT ASKED THIS QUESTION -- HAVEN'T HEARD OF PLAN)		22
						.
	"From what you know, will the Medicare prescription drug plan significantly reduce the cost of prescription drugs for the elderly or will it not significantly reduce the cost of prescription drugs?"
						.
			%
	Will significantly reduce		17
	Will not significantly reduce		41
	Unsure		20
						.
	(NOT ASKED THIS QUESTION -- HAVEN'T HEARD OF PLAN)		22
						.
"Regardless of how you usually vote, do you think the Republican Party or the Democratic Party is more likely to make the right decisions about Medicare?"
						.
		Republican Party	Democratic Party	Both (vol.)	Neither (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	12/2-6/05	24	54	3	4	15

Pew Research Center survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. Nov. 9-27, 2005. Adults nationwide.
						.
"Which comes closer to your view? In all circumstances, doctors and nurses should do everything possible to save the life of a patient. OR, Sometimes there are circumstances where a patient should be allowed to die." N=1,500, MoE ą 3
						.
		Do Every- thing to Save Life	Sometimes Allow to Die	Unsure
		%	%	%
	11/9-27/05	22	70	8
						.
"In some states, it's legal to stop medical treatment that is keeping a terminally ill patient alive, or never start the treatment in the first place, if that's what the patient wants. Do you approve or disapprove of laws that let PATIENTS decide about being kept alive through medical treatment?" Form 1 (N=748, MoE ą 4)
						.
		Approve	Disapprove	Unsure
		%	%	%
	11/9-27/05	84	10	6
						.
"In some states, it's legal for doctors to prescribe lethal doses of drugs that a terminally ill patient could use themselves to commit suicide. Do you approve or disapprove of laws that let doctors assist patients who want to end their lives this way?" Form 2 (N=752, MoE ą 4)
						.
		Approve	Disapprove	Unsure
		%	%	%
	11/9-27/05	46	45	9
						.
"Do you think a person has a moral right to end his or her own life under any of the following circumstances? First, [see below]?" N=1,500, MoE ą 3
						.
		Yes	No	Unsure
		%	%	%
						.
	"When this person has a disease that is incurable"
	11/9-27/05	53	39	8
						.
	"When this person is suffering great pain and has no hope of improvement"
	11/9-27/05	60	34	6
						.
	"When this person is an extremely heavy burden on his or her family"
	11/9-27/05	29	62	9
						.
	"When this person is ready to die because living has become a burden"
	11/9-27/05	33	58	9
						.
"I have a few more questions on this subject, and some may be hard for you to think about. Because of the importance of these issues, we very much appreciate your honest answers. If there's any question that you really don't want to answer, please just tell me. "If a patient with a terminal disease is unable to communicate and has not made his or her own wishes known in advance, should the closest family member be allowed to decide whether to continue medical treatment, or should a family member not be allowed to make this decision?" N=1,500, MoE ą 3
						.
		Allowed	Not Allowed	Depends (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	11/9-27/05	74	15	5	6
						.
"We sometimes hear of cases where a person has killed a spouse because the husband or wife was suffering terrible pain from a terminal disease. Do you think the actions of these people are never justified, sometimes justified, or always justified?" Form 1 (N=748, MoE ą 4)
						.
		Never Justified	Sometimes Justified	Always Justified	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	11/9-27/05	29	55	6	10
						.
"We sometimes hear of cases where a person has helped a spouse commit suicide because the husband or wife was suffering terrible pain from a terminal disease. Do you think the actions of these people are never justified, sometimes justified, or always justified?" Form 2 (N=752, MoE ą 4)
						.
		Never Justified	Sometimes Justified	Always Justified	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	11/9-27/05	25	53	14	8
						.
"Which political party -- the Republican Party or the Democratic Party -- do you think could do a better job of dealing with issues related to end-of-life decisions?" N=1,500, MoE ą 3
						.
		Republican Party	Democratic Party	Both Equally (vol.)	Neither (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	11/9-27/05	22	34	2	16	26

Gallup Poll. Nov. 7-10, 2005. N=1,011 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
						.
"Taking into consideration both your risk of contracting it and the seriousness of it, how worried are you, personally, about experiencing a deadly virus, such as bird flu or something similar, that spreads to the United States from a foreign country? Are you very worried, somewhat worried, not too worried, or not worried at all?"
						.
		Very Worried	Somewhat Worried	Not Too Worried	Not At All Worried
		%	%	%	%
	11/7-10/05	14	36	29	21
						.
"Taking into consideration both your risk of contracting it and the seriousness of it, how worried are you, personally, about experiencing a deadly infectious disease, such as smallpox or something similar, that is brought into the United States by terrorists? Are you very worried, somewhat worried, not too worried, or not worried at all?"
						.
		Very Worried	Somewhat Worried	Not Too Worried	Not At All Worried
		%	%	%	%
	11/7-10/05	11	32	34	23
	11/3-5/03	15	31	25	29

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Bill McInturff (R). Nov. 4-7, 2005. N=1,003 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.1.
						.
"How prepared, if at all, do you think that the United States is for a possible outbreak of the bird or avian flu: very prepared, somewhat prepared, not too prepared, or not prepared at all?"
						.
		Very Prepared	Somewhat Prepared	Not Too Prepared	Not At All Prepared	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	11/4-7/05	4	39	25	27	5

CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. Oct. 21-23, 2005. Nationwide.
.
"How likely do you think it is that the bird flu virus will strike the U.S.: very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not likely at all?" Form B (N=496 adults, MoE ą 5)
.
		Very Likely	Somewhat Likely	Not Too Likely	Not Likely At All	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	10/21-23/05	16	46	29	7	2

FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll. Oct. 11-12, 2005. N=900 registered voters nationwide. MoE ą 3.
.
"How prepared do you think the federal government is to deal with a potential outbreak of bird flu . . . ?"
.
		Very Prepared	Somewhat Prepared	Not Very Prepared	Not At All Prepared	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	10/11-12/05	6	29	29	26	11
.
"If the bird flu becomes widespread, do you think the president should have the authority to use the military to enforce quarantines in affected areas?"
.
		Yes	No	Unsure
		%	%	%
	10/11-12/05	65	21	13
.
"Many U.S. drug manufacturers have stopped producing vaccines, in part because of the threat of lawsuits and because vaccines are not big money makers. Given growing concerns about the avian flu spreading to humans, do you think U.S. drug manufacturers will set aside their concerns about profits and lawsuits and make the necessary vaccine or not?"
.
		Will	Will Not	Unsure
		%	%	%
	10/11-12/05	41	47	12

FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll. Oct. 11-12, 2005. N=900 registered voters nationwide. MoE ą 3.
.
"Do you favor or oppose legalizing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients?"
.
		Favor	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	10/11-12/05	48	39	13
.
"Do you think states should have the right to let doctors prescribe medications that would help mentally competent, terminally ill patients end their lives?"
.
		Yes	No	Unsure
		%	%	%
	10/11-12/05	52	37	11
.
"Has anyone in your immediate family suffered from a painful terminal illness?"
.
		Yes	No	Unsure
		%	%	%
	10/11-12/05	55	42	2
	7/17-18/02	53	46	1

Gallup Poll. July 7-10, 2005. N=1,006 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
					.
"Do you feel confident or not confident that the food available at most grocery stores is safe to eat?"
					.
		Confident	Not Confident	Unsure
		%	%	%
	7/7-10/05	88	12	-
	7/8-11/04	87	12	1
	7/9-11/02	85	13	2
	7/19-22/01	89	10	1
					.
"Do you feel confident or not confident that the food served at most restaurants is safe to eat?"
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