[SCREEN QUESTION] Are you of Hispanic origin, and are
you at least 18 years of age?
1 YES [CONTINUE]
2 NO [ASK 1B]
3 DON'T KNOW/NO RESPONSE [ASK 1B]
1B. [IF NO] Is there anyone else in your household
who is of Hispanic origin?
1 YES [MAY I SPEAK TO THAT PERSON, PLEASE?]
2 NO [THANK AND TERMINATE]
3 DON'T KNOW/NO RESPONSE [THANK AND TERMINATE]
This is not a sales call; we won’t ask you to buy
or do anything — we just want to learn your opinions.
Your answers are completely confidential, and this
interview should only take us about 10 minutes.
We can conduct this survey in Spanish if you like. Do
you prefer to speak in Spanish or English?
20% SPANISH
81% ENGLISH
My first few questions concern health care. When you
need medical help, for something other than an
emergency, where do you normally go: to …
43% A PRIVATE DOCTOR
14% A DOCTOR AT AN HMO
5% A LOCAL MEDICAL ACCESS OR URGENT CARE CENTER
10% A HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM
18% A NEIGHBORHOOD CLINIC, OR …
6% SOME OTHER PLACE
5% DON'T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Do you currently have health insurance or are you a
member of an HMO, that is, a health maintenance
organization? Which?
45% HAVE INSURANCE
23% MEMBER HMO
30% NEITHER
2% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
[SKIP PATTERN]
5A. [IF INSURED/HMO MEMBER] Who pays for your health
insurance or HMO: your employer, yourself, or do you and
your employer each pay part of the cost?
35% EMPLOYER
16% SELF
42% SHARE COSTS
8% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
5B. [IF NOT INSURED/MEMBER HMO] What is the main
reason you do not have insurance: because it is too
expensive, because you feel you do not need it, or
because your employer doesn’t provide it?
45% TOO EXPENSIVE
8% DO NOT NEED IT
22% EMPLOYER DOES NOT PROVIDE IT
22% OTHER
3% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
[ALL] In your community, is the availability of good
health care a very serious problem, a fairly serious
problem, not a serious problem, or is it not a problem
at all?
15% A VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM
18% A FAIRLY SERIOUS PROBLEM
20% NOT A SERIOUS PROBLEM
43% NOT A PROBLEM AT ALL
5% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
The U.S. Congress is considering new laws concerning
health care. Which of these do you think should be
Congress’ highest priority: making health insurance
more available and affordable for the uninsured, or
allowing individuals to sue their HMO?
89% IMPROVE INSURANCE AVAILABILITY AND
AFFORDABILITY
7% ABILITY TO SUE HMO’S
5% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE [DO NOT READ]
Which of the following do you think is the biggest
health care problem in the country today:
16% GETTING ACCESS TO GOOD HEALTH CARE
50% THE RISING COST OF HEALTH CARE
8 % THE NEED TO REFORM HMO’S, INCLUDING
GIVING PATIENTS THE RIGHT TO SUE, OR ...
21% FIXING THE MEDICARE SYSTEM
7% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
The U.S. Congress is also considering the "Fair
Care for the Uninsured Act." Under this program,
families which cannot get health insurance through their
employer would get up to $3,000 from the federal
government to buy their own health insurance. Would you
favor or oppose this idea? Is that strongly or not
strongly?
65% STRONGLY FAVOR
15% FAVOR, NOT STRONGLY
5% OPPOSE, NOT STRONGLY
9% OPPOSE STRONGLY
7% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for a
candidate for Congress who says he or she supports this
"Fair Care for the Uninsured Act?" Is that
much [more likely/less likely] or somewhat [more
likely/less likely]?
54% MUCH MORE LIKELY
24% SOMEWHAT MORE LIKELY
5% SOMEWHAT LESS LIKELY
6% MUCH LESS LIKELY
10% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
My next few questions concern Medicare, the
government program that pays for health care for senior
citizens. From your experience, or what you have heard
or read, is the Medicare program run well, or is it a
program that needs to be reformed?
25% RUN WELL
65% NEEDS REFORM
10% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Currently, Medicare does not pay for prescription
drugs for senior citizens, except when they are in a
hospital. Would you favor or oppose expanding Medicare
to provide senior citizens with prescription drug
coverage?
94% FAVOR
5% OPPOSE
2% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
If Medicare was expanded to pay for prescription
drugs for senior citizens, should this benefit be given
to all seniors regardless of how wealthy they are, or
should prescription drug coverage be given only to lower
income seniors who cannot otherwise afford to buy
prescription drugs?
35% ALL SENIORS REGARDLESS OF WEALTH
64% ONLY LOW INCOME SENIORS
2% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
How much more in additional taxes would you be
willing to pay each year — if any — in order to
provide prescription medicines to senior citizens: $0,
$25, $50, or $100?
17% $0
34% $25
13% $50
12% $100
25% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for a
candidate for Congress who favors expanding Medicare to
give low-income seniors prescription drug coverage? Is
that much [more likely/less likely] or somewhat [more
likely/less likely]?
65% MUCH MORE LIKELY
25% SOMEWHAT MORE LIKELY
3% SOMEWHAT LESS LIKELY
2% MUCH LESS LIKELY
5% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Some people say the Medicare program should be
changed to allow senior citizens to choose between
different plans with different benefits, depending on
what they need. Others say Medicare should be left as it
is, with the same set of benefits for every senior
citizen. Which of these points of view do you agree with
most?
69% ALLOW CHOICE BETWEEN DIFFERENT PLANS
24% LEAVE MEDICARE AS IT IS
7% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Another proposal to change Medicare, the
"Medicare Preservation and Improvement Act,"
put forward by a group of Republican and Democratic
Senators, would allow senior citizens and the disabled
to choose from a variety of private insurance plans,
depending on the type of coverage they want, which could
include prescription drugs. The federal government would
then pay the costs of these plans for low-income senior
citizens. Does this proposal seem to be a good idea or a
bad idea?
86% GOOD IDEA
8% BAD IDEA
6% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for a
candidate for Congress who favors this Medicare
Preservation and Improvement Act? Is that much [more
likely/less likely] or somewhat [more likely/less
likely]?
63% MUCH MORE LIKELY
24% SOMEWHAT MORE LIKELY
3% SOMEWHAT LESS LIKELY
3% MUCH LESS LIKELY
7% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Do you currently use a prescription drug on a regular
basis?
35% YES
65% NO
1% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
[IF NO] Would you be using a prescription drug
regularly, if you didn’t have to pay for it yourself?
29% YES
68% NO
4% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Federal and state governments pay for prescription
medicines for the very poor through Medicaid, and some
people have proposed saving money by limiting which
prescription medicines Medicaid will pay for. In your
opinion, should the government save money by limiting
the prescriptions drugs it will pay for, or should it
pay for any drug which a poor patient needs?
15% GOVERNMENT SHOULD SAVE MONEY BY LIMITING
DRUGS
83% GOVERNMENT SHOULD PROVIDE ANY NEEDED DRUG
3% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
On another subject …
How would you rate the quality of the public schools
in your area: are they very good, fairly good, fairly
poor or very poor?
26% VERY GOOD
50% FAIRLY GOOD
10% FAIRLY POOR
7% VERY POOR
7% DON'T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Which of the following do you think is the biggest
problem facing public schools in general:
24% STUDENTS ARE NOT GETTING THE KNOWLEDGE AND
SKILLS THEY NEED
23% STUDENTS ARE BEING EXPOSED TO VIOLENCE AND
ILLEGAL DRUGS IN SCHOOL
27% STUDENTS ARE BEING TAUGHT NON-TRADITIONAL
VALUES AND ARE NOT LEARNING DISCIPLINE
19% NONE OF THESE IS A PROBLEM
7% DON'T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
[SKIP PATTERN]
[FLORIDA RESIDENTS ONLY] You may know that a new law
in Florida says if a public school fails to meet certain
standards of educational success, parents of children in
that school can send their kids to a better public
school or to a religious or private school at state
expense. Do you favor or oppose this new program?
74% FAVOR
20% OPPOSE
6% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
[NON-FLORIDA RESIDENTS ONLY] In the state of Florida,
a new law says if a public school fails to meet certain
standards of educational success, parents of children in
that school can send their kids to a better public
school or to a religious or private school at state
expense. Would you favor or oppose having this program
in your state?
63% FAVOR
30% OPPOSE
7% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
If parents are not satisfied with the quality of
education in their local public school, they can either
move to a place with better schools or put their
children in private schools. But often low-income
families cannot afford to do this. Should the government
provide funds to help low-income families send their
children to a better public or private school?
70% YES
25% NO
5% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
In your opinion, what ought to be the purpose of
bilingual education programs in the public school
system: to make sure that students learn English well,
or to teach immigrant children in their native language?
76% LEARN ENGLISH
15% LEARN IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE
9% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
These next few questions concern social security. How
much confidence do you have that you will actually
receive all the social security benefits you are
entitled to when you retire: do you have a great deal of
confidence, a fair amount of confidence, not much
confidence, or no confidence at all?
12% A GREAT DEAL OF CONFIDENCE
25% A FAIR AMOUNT OF CONFIDENCE
33% NOT MUCH CONFIDENCE
25% NO CONFIDENCE AT ALL
1% NOT IN THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM
4% DON'T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Do you have a savings account for retirement, other
than social security, such as a 401(k) or an IRA?
43% YES
56% NO
1% DON'T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Some people say we need fundamental reform to keep
the social security system from running out of money.
Others say we should leave social security alone and
just let Congress put in more money if it’s needed.
Which of these views is closer to your own?
50% NEED REFORM
39% LEAVE SYSTEM ALONE
6% NEITHER/DEPENDS/BOTH
6% DON'T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Some people have proposed changing the social
security system so that you can voluntarily put some of
the money you now pay in social security taxes into a
personal retirement account in your own name, like an
IRA or 401(k) program, and invest it as you see fit.
While the automatic social security benefits you get
would be reduced, you could potentially get much higher
returns on your savings and all of the money in this
account would belong to you. Would you favor or oppose
changing the social security system in this way?
69% FAVOR
23% OPPOSE
8% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
The average wage-earner pays about 37% of their
income in taxes. Do you think this amount is too high,
about right, or too little?
56% TOO HIGH
33% ABOUT RIGHT
7% TOO LITTLE
5% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
How important is the issue of reducing taxes on
individuals and families going to be for you, in
deciding who to vote for in the election this year: is
it very important, fairly important, not very important,
or not important at all?
53% VERY IMPORTANT
31% FAIRLY IMPORTANT
7% NOT VERY IMPORTANT
6% NOT IMPORTANT AT ALL
3% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
1% NOT ASKED
Some people have proposed making the federal income
tax more simple — getting rid of most deductions and
loopholes — with a flat tax. Under a flat tax, instead
of the current income tax system, a family of four would
pay no tax on their first $36,000 of income, and after
that, they would pay a flat tax of 17 cents on every
dollar of income over $36,000. Would you favor or oppose
changing the income tax in this way?
60% FAVOR
28% OPPOSE
12% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
As you know, next November there will be an election
for President. If the election were being held today and
the candidates were Democrat Al Gore, the current Vice
President; Republican George Bush, the Governor of
Texas; and Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, for whom
would you vote?
38% DEMOCRAT AL GORE
32% REPUBLICAN GEORGE BUSH
2% REFORM PARTY CANDIDATE PAT BUCHANAN
23% UNDECIDED/DON'T KNOW
3% REFUSED/OTHER NO RESPONSE
2% OTHER
If the election for the Member of Congress from your
area were being held today, would you vote for the
Democratic candidate or the Republican candidate?
55% DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE
21% REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE
23% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
2% OTHER
These next few questions are just for statistical
purposes.
Are you currently registered to vote?
68% YES
31% NO
1% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Do you have access to the Internet, either at home or
at your office?
53% YES
47% NO
* DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
Age
28% 18 – 29
27% 30 – 39
21% 40 – 49
13% 50 – 59
11% OVER 60
1% NO RESPONSE
Are you currently married or single? [IF MARRIED]
Have you ever been married before to another person? [IF
SINGLE] Are you separated, divorced, widowed, or have
you never been married?
46% MARRIED, NOT PREVIOUSLY MARRIED
12% MARRIED, PREVIOUSLY MARRIED
3% SEPARATED
9% DIVORCED
3% WIDOWED
27% SINGLE, NEVER MARRIED
* NO RESPONSE
Do you have any children? [IF YES] Are any of your
children under 18 years of age?
29% NO CHILDREN
21% HAVE CHILDREN, NONE UNDER
51% HAVE CHILDREN, ONE OR MORE UNDER
0% NO RESPONSE
Gender [BY OBSERVATION, DO NOT READ UNLESS UNCERTAIN]
48% MALE
52% FEMALE
And finally, from which of these places is your
family mainly from:
46% MEXICO
14% PUERTO RICO
3% CUBA
8% CENTRAL AMERICA
7% SOUTH AMERICA
19% OTHER [DO NOT READ]
3% DON’T KNOW/NO RESPONSE
