ATTITUDES TOWARD AGE-BASED HEALTH-CARE RATIONING - A QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT

This study is designed to contribute to recent efforts to assess publi c views on age-based rationing of health care by reporting findings fr om a qualitative research project using focus group interviews. Group interviews find that respondents are concerned about the high costs of health care, but few attribute these costs to overuse by older people . Respondents reject the notion of specific policies limiting health c are based on the age of the patient. Respondents of all ages tend to r eject the idea of paying for treatment to extend the life of the hopel essly ill when all beneficial treatment efforts have been attempted. A lthough expressing strong feelings about equality of opportunity for h ealth care, respondents are ambivalent about the role that government should play to accomplish this goal. Differences in attitudes toward a llocation of health care appear to be associated more with differences in socioeconomic status and political orientation than with differenc es in age of respondents.