Bridging the gap between expert and public views on health care reform

Americans consider reform of the health care system to be one of the most important initiatives for the new administration....Our review of recent surveys shows that experts and the public differ along three important dimensions: their perceptions of the problem, how it was caused, and how it should be solved. Policymakers should be aware that addressing the experts' concerns without due consideration of the public's perceptions of the issues may affect Americans' willingness to support proposed solutions to our difficult problems. In this article, we highlight the differences between expert and public perceptions of the health care cost crisis, and suggest possible approaches to bridging the gap between the experts' directions for reform and the public's preferences.