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Note to media: There are two news releases about the findings of the eighth
annual Quality of Life in Virginia survey. This one covers opinions on public
spending and perceptions of education, health care, the economy, and life in
Virginia. The second news release arises from the fact that the survey was done
after the shooting at Columbine High School and addresses Virginian's views and
perceptions regarding violence and crime. RADIO INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE. SEE BOTTOM
OF RELEASE.
Most Virginians Have Managed Care and Find It Imperfect, But Endorse Managed Care for Medicaid, Medicare
BLACKSBURG, Aug. 11, 1999 -- While state and national elected officials debate tax cuts, Virginians favor maintaining or even increasing spending on schools, the environment, and social services, points out Susan M. Willis-Walton, associate director of Virginia Tech's Center for Survey Research.
The eighth annual Quality of Life in Virginia survey conducted by the center found that few Virginians believe the state is spending "too much" on its services. For nine out of 10 spending areas, ranging from improving highways and protecting the environment to providing social services, fewer than 12 percent of citizens say the state spends too much. Only with regard to spending on prisons and jails did a larger proportion (one-fourth of citizens) think the commonwealth spends "too much." More than half of citizens surveyed responded that the state does not spend enough on social services for the elderly, and 57 percent say not enough is spent on public schools (K-12). In fact, 41 percent agree that state taxes should be increased to support public schools -- down from 49 percent in 1996.
Regarding spending on colleges and universities, 54 percent thought it was about right and 26 percent thought it wasn't enough. However, 45 percent agreed that taxes should be raised to support public higher education -- the same percent as last year.
Virginians not only have strong opinions on the importance of supporting public education, they think highly of the public schools. Three-fourths think Virginia's public schools are "excellent" or "good." In some instances, where a person lived in the state, their age, gender, or education made a difference in how they responded, Willis-Walton notes. For example, regarding the excellence of public schools, more residents of the urban crescent (the cities and counties in Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Hampton Roads) gave the "excellent" ranking than did the rural residents. Also, 63 percent of people under the age of 40 wanted more spent on K-12 schools, compared to one-half of those over 40-years-old.
Almost two-thirds of Virginians believe public schools do a good job of teaching math and science, although 40 percent of respondents with some college education disagree, compared to 18 percent of those with less education.
Virginians like their public colleges and universities, with 87 percent rating the state as an excellent or good place to get a college or university education. Respondents over age 40 and those with some college education gave Virginia higher education the highest rankings.
Several school policy questions were added to this year's survey. One that could impact costs, and was recently debated in the legislature, is "Should a school nurse be required in every public school building?" with 72 percent saying they strongly agree, and another 19 percent saying they somewhat agree. In a related question, 72 percent also strongly or somewhat agree that non-medical school officials should be allowed to give students prescription medications during school hours when prescribed by the student's doctor.
As in previous years, fully three-fourths of Virginians agree that American public schools should teach sex education. "While a vocal minority of citizens continue to oppose teaching sex education or family life education in public schools, the survey results demonstrate that it is not a concern shared by most Virginians," says Alan E. Bayer, director of Virginia Tech's Center for Survey Research and co-investigator of the annual surveys. "Both local school boards and state legislators should be aware of these poll results before making possibly unpopular decisions in response to unrepresentative pressure groups."
Additional public spending issues
More than half of people living outside of the urban crescent said there
was too little public spending on health care services, whereas only one-third
of urban dwellers said there was too little public spending on health care.
Women and residents of rural areas or small towns in particular thought not
enough is spent on social services for the elderly. "Age was also a factor, but
not as great as gender and area of residence," says Willis-Walton. "As the
population ages, it appears that women and residents of rural areas feel they
will bear the greatest responsibility in caring for the elderly."
About one-third of respondents think spending is too low on public housing for low and moderate income families. "That is a significant portion of the population expressing awareness of this problem," says Willis-Walton. Of those surveyed, 28 percent rent their home and 26 percent say that they often or sometimes worry that they will be unable to pay their rent or mortgage. Asked whether Virginia is a place with reasonably priced housing, 36 percent said it was only "fair" to "poor" -- with higher numbers of respondents from the urban crescent giving the negative response (42 percent compared to 29 percent from rural areas or small towns). "The cost of housing for low-income families in Virginia is becoming a significant burden in many areas of the state," she says.
Many people (43 percent) think not enough is spent on social services for the disabled, although 20 percent said they didn't know.
More than half think spending to attract new business to Virginia is about right, but one third of those outside the urban crescent don't agree.
The spending questions had the highest number of "don't know" responses of all the questions -- usually around 15 percent. "This shows that many Virginians feel they don't have adequate information to form their opinions on public spending," says Bayer. "But spending on K-12 schools had the fewest 'don't knows'."
The least favored area for public spending continues to be prisons, with 24 percent responding that too much is spent on prisons, although another 24 percent say they don't know.
Health care
Eight out of ten Virginians responding to the survey have private health
insurance and 19 percent have Medicare or Medicaid. Of those with private
coverage, 61 percent have managed health care, requiring that they consult their
regular or primary care physician before seeing a specialist or visiting a
hospital. Of that number, one-third are "satisfied" and 47 percent are "somewhat
satisfied" with their managed-care plan.
Questions regarding managed care were first asked last year for research being done by James R. Bohland, Virginia Tech faculty member in urban affairs and planning, and Karen A. Roberto, director of the Center for Gerontology at Tech. They are determining public opinion regarding using managed health care with Medicare and Medicaid.
While only 45 percent of all Virginians agree that managed care provides the same quality care as other insurance programs, and 77 percent agree that managed care limits choices in medical care, still 44 percent agree that Medicare should be a managed care program (57 percent of those under 40-years-old and 34 percent of those over age 40), and 60 percent agree that Medicaid should be a managed care program.
"The fact that these findings are consistent with the previous year indicates that we haven't dealt with this issue at the federal level," says Roberto. "A managed-care approach to Medicare is not bad, but a concern is that many HMO's are jumping ship, which leaves elders at a loss. The problem is access. For example, we've never really seen many HMO plans in rural areas, so that may not be an option."
Other health and health care responses show more satisfaction with care than cost:
- 91 percent of Virginians are satisfied with their present physical health, with those under 40 years old most satisfied.
- 72 percent have consulted a physician in the last year, with more women than men visiting a doctor, as is also true nationally.
- 86 percent are satisfied with the quality of their present medical care.
- 86 percent rate emergency medical services in their community as good or excellent, with urban residents being most satisfied.
- 76 percent rate local health care facilities as good or excellent, although there are fewer "excellent" rankings from rural residents.
- 91 percent are very or somewhat satisfied with access to nearby medical care, although 16 percent of rural residents drove more than 50 miles one-way to see a doctor in the past year.
- 65 percent say they are not satisfied or only somewhat satisfied with the cost of medical care.
- 74 percent say that national limits should be set on how much physicians can charge, and 71 percent say that a national health policy is needed -- although 12 percent strongly disagree with each of these statements.
Virginians continue to favor three controversial issues:
- 77 percent of Virginians agree that physicians should be allowed to prescribe marijuana for medical use when it reduces pain form cancer treatment or other illness.
- 68 percent agree doctors should be allowed to end the life of a terminally ill patient when requested by the patient and the family, although 18 percent strongly disagree.
- 71 percent agree (46 percent of them, strongly) with a woman's right to have an abortion.
Many Virginians responding to the survey have family members with little or no insurance; 48 percent often or sometimes worry that a family member will have an uninsured illness. Half of respondents often or sometimes worry that they will have to care for a sick relative, with 25 percent of rural residents often having that concern.
The survey has so many health care related questions, that the surveyors decided to add two more questions to learn more about personal health habits, says Willis-Walton. Asked whether or not they used tobacco in the past month, 28 percent said yes. And 51 percent said they had used alcohol. Some 10 percent more men than women, and people under age 40 compared to those over 40, smoke and drink alcohol. Those without a college education prefer smoking, while more of those with at least some college education use alcohol. About 14 percent more urban dwellers use alcohol compared to those from rural areas and small towns, according to the survey.
Quality of Life
The heart of the Quality of Life survey is to determine Virginian's
perceptions of their quality of life -- or satisfaction with work, economic
well-being, the environment, home, and family.
"In addition to opinions on issues and information about lifestyle, it is important to discover citizens' perceptions about their state and communities to help policy-makers form decisions to improve the quality of life in the commonwealth," says Willis-Walton.
"Overall, Virginians are pleased with the quality of their lives," she reports. Almost nine in 10 (88 percent) rate the commonwealth as a 'good' or 'excellent' place to live; although older residents are significantly happier with Virginia as a place to live.
Three fourths of respondents were employed in the past year. However, women were less likely to hold full-time jobs, with 17 percent of working women holding one part-time job, compared to only 7 percent of men. Of those employed, 90 percent say they are satisfied with their work situation.
Additional findings regarding employment and income are:
- 80 percent say they are "very" or "somewhat" satisfied with their income and financial situation, however those who are younger and have less education, as well as women and those living outside the urban crescent are significantly more likely to report being "not satisfied."
- 73 percent of Virginians rate the state as a "good" or "excellent" place to find a job, 10 percent more than four years ago. Those in the urban crescent are more positive about job prospects than those in rural areas.
- 25 percent strongly agree and 61 percent somewhat agree that Virginia's economic conditions are improving, numbers unchanged over the past two years.
- 83 percent of Virginians agree that the nation's economic conditions are improving, significantly more than the 72 percent who agreed two years ago.
- 34 percent often or sometimes worry that a family member will lose their job.
- 61 percent often or sometimes worry that social security won't be available for their entire lifetime after retirement.
"Current ratings of public officials' job performance also reflect prevailing public satisfaction," says Bayer. He points out that three-fourths of Virginians agree that Governor Gilmore is doing a good job for Virginia, and 65 percent agree that President Clinton is doing a good job, while 20 percent strongly disagree. The approval rating of the President is the same as 1997, when the question was last asked, but in 1997 only 15 percent strongly disagreed.
Protection of the environment appears to be a high priority for Virginians, with 70 percent recycling paper, glass, metal, or other household trash in the month before the survey. Urban residents and those with the most education are the most active in this regard. Many citizens are not happy with water and air quality. As in past years, 30 percent rate Virginia's water quality as fair or poor, and 29 percent give the same rating to air quality. More than three-fourths of residents report that the state's parks and outdoor recreation areas are excellent or good, with urban residents giving the highest ratings.
Consistent with past years, most citizens (80 percent) report they are "very satisfied" with family relationships, and 65 percent are very satisfied with their friendships, while 30 percent are somewhat satisfied. Women report themselves the most satisfied with their friendships.
Caller ID, Computers
"Due to the great increase in telemarketing, it has become more
difficult to get Virginians to answer their phones. In order to assess the
impact on survey response rates, in recent years we have begun to ask people
whether or not they have telephone caller ID in their homes," says
Willis-Walton. They learned that 45 percent have the device, while 83 percent
have telephone answering machines.
"Because Virginia has a high rate of computer ownership (64 percent) compared to other states, we periodically ask how the home computers are being used, and this year added a question about making purchases over the Internet," she says. Surveyed Virginians with computers report:
- 76 percent are connected to the Internet, compared to 60 percent last year and 54 percent in 1997.
- 67 percent use computers for entertainment.
- 75 percent use computers for work.
- 86 percent use computers for education.
- 45 percent report they or someone in their family have made purchases on-line.
Where the questions come from
Some of the questions are the same as in national QOL polls, with
additional items developed by members of the Center for Survey Research's
advisory committee and by state leaders. Some portion of the content of each
annual survey is also reserved for special items requested by state
policy-makers, by Virginia Tech faculty members for small unfunded research
projects, or by others to assess a special issue or important, timely question.
Surveyors completed 514 interviews to provide a representative sample of adult respondents in households across Virginia with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.4 percent. In other words, if the survey were repeated 100 times, results would vary beyond 4.4 percent in only five out of the 100 surveys.
Copies of the QOL survey are available for $12 including postage and handling. Make check payable to Treasurer, Virginia Tech, and mail to the Virginia Tech Center for Survey Research, 207 W. Roanoke St. (0543), Blacksburg, VA 24061. Learn more about the center at: www.vt.edu:10021/centers/survey/
RADIO ADVISORY--Virginia Tech Radio's "Soundline" service will have actualities related to the survey. Stations can call 540-231-5636 between 4 pm Tuesday, August 10, and 7 a.m. Friday, August 13, to record excerpts of an interview with Alan Bayer and Susan Willis-Walton regarding the survey.