When asked to identify the importance of 13 specific factors in deciding their vote for President, the position of the candidates on reforming HMOs ranked ninth. Almost two-thirds of voters say that if they had a dispute with their health plan over coverage for a procedure, they would prefer having a quick appeals process before an independent panel of physicians over suing the health plan to recover damages. If Congress is unable to pass an HMO reform bill because of the dispute over allowing new lawsuits against HMOs and employers who provide health benefits, nearly two-thirds of voters think Congress should pass a Patients' Bill of Rights with an independent physician appeals process but without new lawsuits. A vast majority of voters expect trial lawyers to benefit more than consumers if health plans and the employers who provide them are made subject to new lawsuits. Sixty-eight percent believe trial lawyers would benefit more and 18 percent believe consumers would benefit more.
Voters express satisfaction with their current health insurance coverage.
Eighty percent describe themselves as very or somewhat satisfied with their current health insurance coverage. Respondents were selected through random digit dialing to ensure that households with both listed and non-listed telephone numbers were included.