MEDICAL care and government policies toward it have been changing slowly but significantly in the United States. Rapidly rising medical costs-especially cost increases larger than high general inflation during difficult economic timesbecame the catalyst for change. The Reagan administration's proposals, policies, and budget cuts have altered the course of health policy. Problems of equity and access to health care continue for the poor and uninsured (estimates of the latter ranging from 8 to 15 percent), and the recurring debate about forms of national health insurance may begin anew (cf. Erskine, 1975; Kingdon, 1984). Other related issues which also affect the costs of medical care are starting to become more prominent: the needs of an aging and older population, long-term care, catastrophic care, prevention, the development and use of new technology, and malpractice and the accountability of the medical profession. The public is only beginning to get acquainted with the new ways (and alphabet soup) in which patient care is provided, insured, and paid for-larger insurance premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses; and, for example, the uses of preferred provider organizations (PPOs), health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and the new prospective payment cost controls for treatments: the diagnostic-related groups (DRGs) that are currently applied to Medicare and inevitably more broadly. Where, then, does the public stand? Public concern and support for government assistance in medical care is virtually on par with Social Security as an entitlement (cf. Shapiro and Smith, 1985). This support appears to have been strikingly stable for decades, and on the basis of limited data, it seems to be strikingly similar to public attitudes in other affluent Western countries that have more extensive national medicare programs (cf. Coughlin, 1980; Pescosolido et al., 1985). Support for more spending and government action in this policy area has been consistently high in general, especially because of the elderly and the poor, who are perceived to be truly needy. The public appears