Sunday, September 26, 2010

Health Debate: Asking the Right Questions Matters

Finally. Six months after the Health Care Bill passed a scientific survey actually asked people what they thought about the health care debate in a way that illuminates popular opinion on the issue. What it found out is that twice as many people feel the government should be doing more on health care, not less.

Yes, you read that right. You probably remember hearing that government sponsored health care assistance is unpopular and that most people oppose it. Surveys have indeed shown pluralities opposed rather than supported the Affordable Health Care Act that congress passed and President Obama signed in March. But what they didn't tell you was why. I kept asking that at the time.

I suspected that not all who were against the specific bill were against the nation helping out those without coverage or requiring insurance companies to stop denying or terminating coverage based on one criterion or another, but that many were for a more progressive approach, i.e. a single payer plan or one that would cover all those currently left out of the system. The new survey, undertaken by the Associated Press in conjunction with Stanford University, bears this out. You can see all the raw results here. In fact, it finds that twice as many feel the bill does not go far enough, rather than feeling government should do less or nothing on health care.

The survey found 30% said they favor the law, 40% oppose it and 30% are neutral. But more importantly, 40% agreed "it should have done more" while a hard core of of only 20% say, "The government should not be involved in health care at all." A solid 75% favor extensive changes in the U.S. health care system. Republicans who feel they can count on an enormous outpouring of support for their promise to repeal the measure may be in for a rude awakening. See the AP's own article on the survey here.

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