More Than Half of Americans Surveyed Are Not Worried About Swine Flu, According to New Deloitte Poll

More Than Half of Americans Surveyed Are Not Worried About Swine Flu,
According to New Deloitte Poll

The Uninsured Are the Least Prepared to Address Flu Threat

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the first recipients of the
H1N1 vaccine are vaccinated, more than half of Americans surveyed (52 percent)
do not believe the H1N1 virus, or Swine Flu, will have a major impact in the
United States compared to 44 percent who believe it will, according to the
results of a new Deloitte Center for Health Solutions survey.

"Most people know that H1N1 is a potentially serious pandemic; however, our
survey findings suggest they do not associate the virus as something that
could pose a major threat to the U.S., nor do they appear to sense the need
for immediate vaccination," said Paul Keckley, Ph.D. and executive director,
Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. "The data also suggests that certain
parts of the population, particularly the uninsured, are potentially more
vulnerable to Swine Flu than others."

While more than half of respondents (53 percent) say they plan to get
vaccinated and the majority of respondents (79 percent) say they know the
symptoms of the virus and where to get vaccinated
(78 percent), significantly less of the uninsured population surveyed are
aware of the symptoms (68 percent) or where to get vaccinated (57 percent),
and less plan to get vaccinated (49 percent).

Additionally, about half (49 percent) of the respondents surveyed say they
have a plan where they work or go to school to handle the H1N1 virus, compared
with only 34 percent of the uninsured who say they have such a plan.

"According to our research, 54 percent of Americans are doubtful that health
care reform will pass this year," added Keckley. "The disparity between the
uninsured, underinsured and insured varies widely within the current health
care system. It will be interesting to see if a major pandemic, such as Swine
Flu, may factor into influencing the health care reform debate as the system
is further challenged."

Additional findings from the survey include:

-- Respondents who are underinsured, or have inadequate insurance, are
even
less likely to plan to get vaccinated than the uninsured (46 percent
compared with 49 percent).

-- Forty-one percent of respondents surveyed do not plan to get
vaccinated.

-- Men (58 percent) are more likely than women (46 percent) to believe
the
virus will not have a major impact.

-- The uninsured (60 percent) and African American respondents (71
percent)
are more likely to believe the virus will have a major impact.

-- Respondents 55 to 64 years old and respondents age 65 and older are
more
likely to know where to get vaccinated (86 percent and 83 percent,
respectively) compared to respondents 18 to 34 years old (73
percent);
35 to 44 years old (79 percent); and 45 to 54 years old (72 percent).

-- Respondents 55 to 64 years old and respondents age 65 and older, are
also more likely to plan to get vaccinated (61 percent and 61 percent,
respectively) compared to respondents 18 to 34 years old (52 percent);
35 to 44 years old (42 percent); and 45 to 54 years old (51 percent).

-- Respondents in the Northeast (58 percent) and West (56 percent) are
more
likely to believe Swine Flu will not have a major impact on the U.S.
compared to 49 percent of respondents in the South who say it will
have
a major impact.

-- African Americans are more likely to plan to get vaccinated (62
percent)
compared to Caucasians (51 percent) and Hispanics (55 percent).

-- Hispanic respondents surveyed are less likely to know where to get
vaccinated (67 percent) compared with Caucasians (80 percent) and
African Americans (77 percent) surveyed.

Methodology:
The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions commissioned Harris Interactive to
conduct a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,010 U.S. adults 18
years old and older from Sept. 10 -13 to gauge public opinion about the H1N1
virus. Data were weighted to be representative of the total U.S. adult
population on the basis of age, sex, geographic region and race. The survey
has a sampling error of + or - 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

Related Content:
Profile: Paul Keckley, Ph.D. (www.deloitte.com/us/paulkeckley)
Resource Library: Weekly Health Care Reform Memo Archive
(www.deloitte.com/us/healthmemos)
Overview: Health Care Reform (www.deloitte.com/us/healthcarereform)

For more information, visit (www.deloitte.com/centerforhealthsolutions)
About DeloitteAs used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and
Deloitte Services LP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see
www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of
Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.

CONTACT:
Marykate Reese
Senior Manager
Deloitte
+1-203-257-0452
mareese@deloitte.com

SOURCE Deloitte

Marykate Reese, Senior Manager, Deloitte, +1-203-257-0452,
mareese@deloitte.com