Prevention Matters

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America’s Health have released a new poll showing that 71 percent of Americans favor an increased investment in disease prevention and that disease prevention is one of the most popular components of health reform.

The poll, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Public Opinion Strategies, indicates majority support for disease prevention investments from across the political spectrum (85 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of Republicans, and 68 percent of Independents) and across the country (72 percent in the Northeast, 73 percent in the South, 71 percent in the West, and 69 percent in the Midwest).


According to the survey, 70 percent of people think prevention will save money rather than cost money. Nearly two-thirds of Americans ranked investing in prevention between an 8 and 10 on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means not at all an important health care priority and 10 means very important.