[Apr 06, 2006]
"Many U.S. Adults Believe Health Care Quality Can Be Fairly Assessed, But Few Willing To Pay Significantly Higher Premiums for Superior Care," Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive Health Care Poll: Forty-nine percent of U.S. adults believe there exist "fair and reliable" methods to measure and compare hospitals' and medical groups' quality of care, according to the survey of 2,123 adults conducted between March 20 and March 22. In addition, the poll shows that 19% of adults believe it would be fair for patients to pay more to receive care from a hospital or medical group known to provide higher-quality care and that 14% of adults would be willing to pay a significantly higher health plan premium to receive such care. Further, 33% of adults say they support health plans paying more to hospitals and medical groups known to provide better care and less to groups and facilities that do not (Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive Health Care Poll, 4/4).