Where Does Healthcare Rank as a Problem Facing the Country?

Author(s): 
Donald Liebenson
The health of the economy more than the economy of healthcare was uppermost in the minds of Americans in June, according to a new Gallup Poll.
While the Affordable Care Act of 2010, also known as Obamacare, has dominated the news in the weeks leading up to the Supreme Court’s hotly anticipated decision regarding whether it was constitutional or not, it is of less than primary concern to Americans. Six percent said that healthcare was the top problem facing the country in June. Over the firs six months of 2012, an average 7 percent cited healthcare as the top problem.
Healthcare issues are on increased concern over last year, according to first quarter studies conducted by Millionaire Corner. In households with a net worth between $100,000 and $1 million, 67 percent, up from 62 percent in 2011, said they are concerned about the health of their spouse. Sixty-four percent said their own health was a primary concern, up from 59 percent a year ago. Fifty-seven percent, up from 53 percent, said they are concerned about responsibility for their aging parents. This is, not surprisingly, of slightly more concern to younger baby boomers ages 45-54, most likely to be in this position.
Also not surprisingly, a majority of the oldest households, ages 55 and up, are most concerned about having someone to care for them in their senior years.
But economic issues, including maintaining one’s financial position, securing the financial futures of children or grandchildren, and having enough money for retirement, take precedence, according to our research.
This jibes with the Gallup poll. In which the economy, jobs, the deficit, and problems in government were cited as the top concerns in June. Healthcare ranks higher as a personal concern when it is linked with the political and legislative debate, Gallup said. In May, for example, “the cost of healthcare” ranked atop a list of 10 economic issues. In March, “the availability and affordability of healthcare” tied with “federal spending and the budget deficit” for third on a list of 15 problems facing the country, which Gallup asked respondents to rank.
Now that the Supreme Court has made its controversial ruling that the Affordable Care Act of 2010 is constitutional, it has emerged as a primary issue in the upcoming presidential election and will no doubt” rise again in Americans’ priorities as the most important problem facing the country,” Gallup said.
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Source: http://www.millionairecorner.com/article/where-does-healthcare-rank-problem-facing-country

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