Public support for policies that would help people with chronic conditions

According to a national public opinion survey, Americans strongly support government solutions to help people with chronic conditions and their caregivers. Such solutions include a Medicare prescription drug benefit, a tax credit for caregivers, a tax break for people who purchase private long-term care insurance, and public long-term care insurance. A majority is willing to support several of these initiatives by paying higher taxes, but our survey suggests that other initiatives may not have sufficient support to offset their incremental costs. In addition, support for these proposals varies systematically by individual characteristics, which suggests that there are different constituencies for each proposal.