The public is an important stakeholder in health policy. A vast literature explores how the public thinks about health matters, whether attitudes toward health policy mirror those in other policy domains, and whether government health policy making is responsive to public sentiment (for a thoughtful review, see Schlesinger 2013). Typically, the relationship between health policy and public attitudes is subtle, complex, and multistaged. Most health policy decisions are made by government officials. While leaders are certainly aware of public attitudes on health care (as expressed in opinion polls), they may not possess a political incentive or capacity to follow them. As long as politicians avoid taking actions that a large segment of the public strongly opposes, they may possess the discretion to implement whatever policies they want.
For its part, the public tends to be poorly informed about the details of health policy. Citizens lead busy lives and do...
