Bi-Weekly Public Opinion Round-Up

Hope for Health Care Reform?

What does the American public want from health care reform? Here are some of the highlights on public opinion research concerning health care covered by the New York Times, CBS, ABC, and the Pew Research Center this June and July.

According to a New York Times article published on Wednesday, July 29th, “Obama continues to benefit from strong support for the basic goal of revamping the health care system.” These findings are reaffirmed both by the July Health Care Reform and the June Debate Over Health Care CBS poll, which show that:

“49% think the system needs fundamental changes, and another 33% think there are so many things wrong with the U.S. healthcare system that it needs to be completely rebuilt. Just 16% say only minor changes. These numbers have been stable for many years.”

Support for government involvement in health care is reiterated in the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press’s May Values Survey.

Why does a majority of Americans believe our health care system can use a serious fix?  The July CBS poll and corresponding analysis reveals that:

“Americans widely worry that health care will worsen if the government doesn't act. Three-quarters of Americans are concerned that their own insurance costs will eventually rise if the government fails to create a system covering everyone. Also, 66% fear they could someday be uninsured themselves without reform. 80% of Americans also fret that the number of uninsured will rise if reform fails.”

Yet, worried as the public seems to be about doing nothing for health care, they are equally apprehensive about the repercussions of the reform being debated today. According to the New York Times:

“69% of respondents in the poll said they were concerned that the quality of their own care would decline if the government created a program that covers everyone.”

And this number is less than the 81% of net concerned individuals measured by ABC in their June Health Care Reform poll.

So where does the consensus on health care reform lie?

Well, for one thing, 79% favor “requiring insurance companies to sell health coverage to people, even if they have pre-existing medical conditions”, and, according to the same  July Obama ratings poll by the Pew Center, 65% favor “requiring that all Americans have health insurance with the government providing financial help for those who can’t afford it.”

No, it is not 100%, but it is a majority – and that’s a start.