Racial Disparities in Health Care Experiences and Health Policy Attitudes

• In Event: Race, Health Policy, and Disparities in Political Voice

Abstract

Personal experiences can shape political attitudes by providing informative signals about an individual’s self-interest in policy, the quality of a policy, as well as provide considerations that may be in competition with more symbolic influences on attitudes, such as partisanship and general ideological considerations. This study assesses the relationship between personal experiences with the health care system and attitudes toward the role of government in health care policy in the United States, with a particular focus on how the nature of personal experience varies by racial group.

The study analyzes survey data from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Collaborative Multi-Racial Post Election Survey, which includes an oversample of Black and African-American adults. The analysis quantifies differences in the vulnerability of American adults to negative experiences with the health care system, including unexpected costs, denial of care, and poor treatment from health care professionals. Furthermore, the study tests whether these negative experiences push the public toward or away from the desire for greater government intervention in health care, and how this relationship varies by partisanship, which may serve as a cross-pressure in attitude formation, race, and perceptions of government reputation.

Authors

• Katherine McCabe, Rutgers University

• Michael Strawbridge, Rutgers University