From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Seventy percent of Wisconsin voters said they’re at least somewhat concerned about additional hospital closures, and more than half of those concerned say they’re most worried about accessing care.
That’s a key finding from survey results the Healthy Wisconsin Alliance rolled out today. The results came from a recent Platform Communications Badger Battleground Poll. HWA is an affiliate of the Wisconsin Hospital Association.
The poll found 85% of voters in the Eau Claire media market said they’re concerned about more hospital closures. The release points to recent high-profile closures in the area, likely referencing multiple Hospital Sisters Health System hospitals shutting down last year in the Chippewa Valley. Eighty-three percent of voters in the Wausau media market said they’re worried about hospital closures as well.
Meanwhile, the release notes “nearly one-in-three” voters in the state blame insurance companies for the closure of rural hospitals, and about the same share had personally had trouble getting care due to insurance company denials.
And 67% of respondents said hospitals are more likely to act in their best interest than insurance companies, with 6%. Across Democrats, Republicans and independents in the poll, hospitals were seen as more aligned with their best interests.
The poll reached 500 likely state general election voters over cell phones and landlines April 7-9, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. HWA today only released a summary of answers for certain questions, not the full data set of all questions and responses.
Platform Communications, a Madison public relations firm, designed and commissioned the survey, which was conducted by California-based BK Strategies.
Nate Silver rates BK Strategies as a B/C pollster.
See previous coverage on the poll at WisPolitics and see today’s polling memo.
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