Survey Finds Mixed Reaction Among Residents About New Orleans Rebuilding Efforts Three Years After Hurricane Katrina; Optimism About Future Remains

Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans residents are still struggling and give mixed reviews about key areas of the rebuilding process, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, the Washington Post reports. While the survey shows most residents of Orleans Parish feel forgotten by the nation and its leaders, many residents are optimistic and believe revitalization efforts are headed in the right direction (Cohen, Washington Post, 8/10). The survey, the second of at least three to be conducted by the foundation, includes responses obtained by telephone, face to face and online interviews of a random sample of 1,294 residents of Orleans Parish -- the area with the most residents affected by the storm's aftermath. The first such survey was conducted in 2006. The new survey was conducted from March 5 to April 28 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points, which may be higher among subsets (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 8/10).

A total of 52% of New Orleans residents say that they are "dissatisfied" (41%) or "angry" (11%) about the amount of progress that has been made, the survey found (Washington Post, 8/10). Most residents saw little or no progress in two critical areas: housing (72%) and crime (71%), according to the survey. Reviews among other key areas -- medical facilities, public schools, jobs and rebuilding neighborhoods -- are more mixed, with majorities seeing little or no progress. Only in one area, levee repair, does a majority (60%) see progress. Overall, six in 10 New Orleans residents say they do not think rebuilding the city is a priority for Congress and the president, and 65% say they think "most Americans have forgotten about the challenges facing New Orleans." Three in four residents believe the federal government has not provided enough money and other support to the city, while 86% of residents say the city has at least a somewhat serious problem with political corruption.

In addition, the survey found that 70% of residents see the city as "mainly divided by things like race and income." A significantly larger portion of the population sees income disparity as the problem (33%) rather than race (15%) (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 8/10). According to the Post, 26% of blacks say they are "living comfortably," compared with 56% of whites who said so. Few black residents see their lives as back to normal and nearly half (46%) see the recovery effort as biased against them (Washington Post, 8/10). In 2006, 55% of black residents reported seeing this bias.

The survey suggests race relations in New Orleans may be improving with 28% indicating race relations are "worse [than] they were before Hurricane Katrina." This is down nine percentage points from the results of the 2006 survey (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 8/10). A majority of residents (58%) believe the growing number of immigrant workers in the city is a positive thing (Dungca, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 8/10).

Health Care
More residents reported having health care coverage compared with about two years ago, but they also reported having more problems related to health care, according to the survey (Washington Post, 8/10). Eighteen percent of residents reported not having health insurance, down from 26% in 2006. Twenty-five percent said they do not have a usual source of health care other than an emergency department, down from 34% in 2006. The survey also found that 84% of adults living in the city face ongoing health issues in one of at least four critical areas: physical or mental health; health care coverage; access to care; or children's health (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 8/10).

The percentage of residents reporting problems with their health coverage and access to care rose to 58%, up from 55% in 2006 (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 8/10). Affordability of care appears to be a bigger issue, perhaps partly because of the national economic situation. One in four New Orleans residents indicated a problem paying for medical bills in the past six months, up from 9% in 2006. Over the same time period, at least twice as many now as in 2006 report skipping or postponing needed care or skipping needed doses of medication.

In addition, 65% of residents reported either having some sort of chronic health condition or disability, or being in "fair" or "poor" health, up from 45% in 2006. Thirty-one percent of those with children younger than age 19 reported that at least one of their children has a chronic condition or disability, up from 21% in 2006 (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 8/10). The percentage of people who reported having serious mental disorders has tripled to 15%, and the proportion of people who now take medications for "emotions, nerves or mental health" rose from 8% in 2006 to 17% in 2008.

The Post reports, "In part, the increase" in the number of people reporting problems "may stem from greater access to health care and professional diagnoses." The survey also shows that black residents are more likely than whites to report problems with health coverage and access (Washington Post, 8/10).

Comments
Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman said, "Residents are not satisfied with the pace of the recovery effort, but they do see it moving in the right direction" (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 8/10). He added that, with "the exception of one area (levee rebuilding), there wasn't a critical area where the majority saw substantial, significant progress."

Diane Rowland, executive vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation and executive director of its Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, said, "The role [Hispanic immigrants] played in recovery was seen as helpful and not as taking jobs away from others," but residents' attitudes toward immigrants "may get more and more negative as they put more pressure on the health care system" (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 8/10).

The survey is available online.