Few candidates discuss health care in detail as part of campaigns

Oct 16 2006

Health care "almost always gets mentioned in campaigns, but often not in detail," and it "is always somewhere on the list of serious voter concerns" but "almost never at the top," in part because of the complexity of the issue, the Baltimore Sun reports.

According to the Sun, health care -- "and paying for it -- is a large and growing concern for most Americans, ... but neither politicians nor voters have many fresh ideas on what to do about it." Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman said, "Health care is a top personal and family economic issue, but it's not breaking through as an election issue." Health care in most cases ranks between fifth and eighth on the list of voter concerns, with the issue considered more important for Democratic voters, according to Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and management at Harvard School of Public Health.

Complex Issue

Some experts said that many candidates do not address health care in detail during campaigns because the issue is difficult to discuss through sound bites, 30-second commercials and lawn signs. In addition, some experts said that candidates who propose detailed health care reform plans make themselves targets for criticism. Altman said, "Every plan has three or four fatal flaws or gores somebody's ox," adding, "There's no simple or painless health reform plan." Blendon said, "The less you say about how you're going to solve the problems, the more people are with you." As a result, he said, many candidates avoid controversial positions on health care and focus on "stuff that gets you unanimous support: medical research, preparing for avian flu." Some experts also said that candidates do not discuss health care in detail during campaigns because they do not have a "real solution," the Sun reports. Gerard Anderson, professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, said, "Democrats or Republicans, aside from transparency, they don't have a solution," adding, "I don't think you've got either side wanting to do a big expansion of benefits" (Salganik, Baltimore Sun, 10/15).