Benefits February 22, 2006

Health Care, Job Outsourcing Worrisome for Americans

February 22, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Health care and outsourcing of jobs ended up in the top 10 list of things Americans were worried about in a new survey by a Sausalito, California marketing company.
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According to a news release from Context Marketing, 52% said they are most concerned about health care issues, including pharmaceutical costs. Nearly four in 10 (38%) cited outsourcing of jobs as the issue keeping them up at night.

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Otherwise, 61% cited gas prices as their top concern and Terrorism was third at 42%. Avian flu, which has received considerable media attention in recent months, was ninth on the list.

“Consumers seem to be saying that the issues they confront on a daily basis are more troublesome than the larger, potentially more serious risks that have a much lower probability of happening,” said Bob Kenney, president of Context Marketing, in the news release.

The worrisome issues listed in order included:

  1. Gas Prices (61%)
  2. Health care (52%)
  3. Terrorism (42%)
  4. Jobs Outsourcing (38%)
  5. AIDS, Cancer (35%)
  6. Immigration (28%)
  7. Obesity (27%)
  8. Natural Disasters/Global Warming (tie) (24%)
  9. Avian Flu, Mad Cow (21%)
  10. Homelessness (20%)

The survey was conducted in late January 2006 and included 302 consumers between the ages of 18 and 64.

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