Council for American Medical Innovation Survey: 2/3rds of Americans Believe Medical Innovation will Lower Healthcare Costs

The Council for American Medical Innovation (CAMI) is a partnership aimed at urging Congress to adopt a national policy agenda on medical innovation. Formed by leaders from research, medicine, academia, education, labor, business, health care and policy, CAMI supports:

• A renewed focus on improving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.
• Policies that help America attract and retain the world’s best and brightest minds.
• Policies that encourage collaborative private sector and public sector biopharmaceutical Research & Development.
• Policies that incentivize private sector Research & Development risk-taking.
• Policies that cultivate dynamic research parks around the country.

A poll commissioned by CAMI and conducted from January 6-10, 2011, was released at a conference today entitled, “Medical Innovation at the Crossroads: Choosing the Path Ahead.” The poll showed that “Americans overwhelmingly believe that failure on the part of U.S. policymakers to invest more in medical innovation today will have a “significant long-term impact” on quality of life, employment and economic growth.

The purpose of the conference was to examine the most effective federal policy strategies supporting U.S. medical innovation as a cornerstone for job creation, economic recovery and health security to all Americans, and more importantly, to keep U.S. leadership in medical innovation.

Survey

The survey, which was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research in conjunction with Public Opinion Strategies for the Council for American Medical Innovation, was based on a national omnibus telephone survey of 1,009 adults ages 18 and over. Among the key survey findings:

Two-Thirds of Americans Believe Medical Innovation will Lower Health Care Costs: Sixty-six percent believe investing in medical innovation and research in the United States to help prevent and cure diseases will ultimately lower overall health care costs.

More Than Half Favor Increased Investment: Fifty-eight percent of Americans believe the federal government should spend more on medical innovation and research in order to address health problems such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.

Jobs and Cures Top of Mind: Forty-eight percent list jobs and economic growth as top reasons why it is important for the U.S. to be the global leader in medical innovation and research. Equally, 48 percent list the development of new treatments and cures as top reasons.

Nearly Three-Fourths Cite Consequences of Inaction: Seventy-two percent believe there will be a significant long-term impact on quality of life, employment and economic growth if the U.S. fails to spend more on medical innovation and research.

R&D Tax Credit, Federal Regulatory Reforms and Public-Private Partnerships Receive Strong Support: Seventy-four percent are in favor of establishing incentives and reforms to the tax code to attract investment in medical innovation and research in the United States;

78 percent support providing government reforms to bring new innovations to market faster and at lower costs, without compromising quality;

81 percent support developing public-private partnerships between government, industry and universities to maximize resources and expertise in medical innovation and research in the United States; and

79 percent support creating economic and other incentives to promote exports of United States-based medical technology and innovation.

In response to the findings from this survey, pollsters Stan Greenberg and Bill McInturff noted that it was “unusual to see an issue that has the potential to unite Democrats, Republicans and Independents.” As a result, they acknowledged the “opportunity for consensus across party lines” when it comes to medical innovation, especially with the significant benefits it offers to our economy and overall health and well being.

CAMI President Debra Lappin applaued the results from the survey and recognized CAMI’s role in helping to lay “the groundwork for this important dialogue that will benefit every American, regardless of where they live or work.” She stated that “CAMI looks forward to continuing to partner with policymakers and leaders in the private sector to turn this dialogue into meaningful action.” The survey results were also discussed at the conference yesterday, which included speakers such as:

• Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Assistant to the President and Associate Director for Technology, Office of Science & Technology Policy;
• Dr. Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, Editor at Large of TIME, Washington Post columnist and New York Times bestselling author;
• Dick Gephardt, Fmr. U.S. House Majority Leader and Co-Chair of CAMI;
• Mike Leavitt, Fmr. Utah Governor, Secretary of Health and Human Services and Co-Chair of CAMI;
• PhRMA CEO John Castellani;
• Chris Coburn, Executive Director, Cleveland Clinic Innovations;
• ITIF President Robert Atkinson and many others.

Additionally, CAMI released a new Web video that highlights the impact that medical innovation has had on Americans’ way of life, as well as the significant promise that exists if public and private sector leaders work together to make it a national priority going forward.

Discussion

With almost half of Americans in the survey citing jobs and economic growth as top reasons why it is important for the U.S. to be the global leader in medical innovation and research, Congress and federal agencies must carefully consider ways to implement health care reform that will lead to more jobs and strong economic growth. 

Moreover, with 81 percent of Americans supporting the development of public-private partnerships between government, industry and universities to maximize resources and expertise in medical innovation and research in the United States, policymakers and institutions must revisit policies and considerations that aim to hinder or make such collaborations difficult.

Additionally, with 66 percent of Americans believing that investing in medical innovation and research in the United States to help prevent and cure diseases will ultimately lower overall health care costs, it is clear that industry must be afforded a manageable regulatory framework that will lead to safe and effective medical products that reach patients in a timely manner.

Moving forward, Congress, agencies, institutions, and academic medical centers should seriously consider the data reported in this survey. Criticisms about industry-physician collaboration generally assert that such relationships should be prohibited because they are not in the public’s best interest. However, the data from the CAMI survey reveal that such concerns are misplaced, since Americans are overwhelmingly supportive of public-private partnerships with industry. As a result, entities should be encouraging such collaboration because this will lead to disease prevention and cures, economic growth and jobs, all of which Americans desire.