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A new Times/CBS poll reveals overwhelming public support for all the essential elements of health care reform, including a robust public health plan option and universal coverage even if that means raising taxes.
The public also strongly supports government efforts to control costs, and they look to government to end abusive private insurance practices. It’s clear the public understands the current system’s problems, and 85 percent are ready for substantial changes in how health care is provided today.
The poll confirms President Obama’s strategic decision to "fix what is broken and build on what works." Many Americans (77%) are generally satisfied with what they have now and older folks in particular don’t want to lose what they have — Medicare. But get this: they’re willing to accept major reforms to ensure universal care and willing to pay for that with new taxes. And they trust government far more than the private insurance system to fix what’s broken.
Now the question is, will Congress get the message? Given the incomplete Health Committee proposal and the weakness and misdirection of the Finance Committee revised proposal, the ultimate Senate plan seems headed to fall far short of what the America people are ready to accept. Even the more generous, consolidated House plan may not go far enough. Congress needs to catch up.
For a frightened and timid Congress, this is powerful wakeup call. Whatever you’re doing, whatever limits you’ve imposed on universal coverage, and whatever fears you’re catering to, you’re out of step with the American people. You need to raise your game.
It’s hard to imagine a stronger public mandate for the essential reforms, and because this poll reinforces what previous polls have been saying, it’s clear the dishonest, fear-laden attacks by Republican and industry obstructionists have not weakened support for fundamental reforms.
That only reenforces another powerful message for the misguided efforts at bipartisanship: Americans overwhelming trust Democrats over Republican, 51 to 22 percent, to fix the system; even 25 percent of Republicans don’t trust their own party’s leadership. Why should anyone else?
The public is telling Obama and Democrats to ignore the discredited Republicans and get the job done. If the Republicans want to repair their abysmal ratings, it is they who need to stop their obstruction, change their views, get on board or get out of the way. So 60 votes is not their firewall, it’s their salvation. Otherwise, it’s 51 votes that matters and the public will support them.
Select poll results are here, and the complete poll is here.
More:
Robert Reich’s memo to Obama: Go sell it; we can do this
AP, Pharma cuts deal with WH, Baucus to lower brand name Medicare drug prices — but what did we give up?
NYT Editorial, Supports Public Health Plan, outlines alternatives
Update: Highlighting that having "insurance" is not enough, the Boston Globe reports many with insurance not getting the care and drugs they need because of excessive co-payments and deductibles:
People with robust health insurance are putting off doctors’ appointments and skimping on prescriptions because they can’t afford the increasing costs of copayments and deductibles, according to managers of patient-assistance hot lines in Massachusetts.
Not that long ago, such dilemmas were typically faced by lower-income families, often on publicly subsidized insurance. But with many consumers struggling to pay rising healthcare costs amid today’s shrinking family budgets, these tough choices are becoming commonplace – even among families with employer-provided health insurance, consumer advocates say.
“Our medical debt resolution program is hearing repeatedly that copayments are a problem,’’ said Mark Rukavina, executive director of the Boston-based Access Project, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers with healthcare issues.
“Previously it was the uninsured,’’ Rukavina said. “Now we are seeing people with insurance, but they are struggling to pay their bills.’’
The problem appears particularly acute for people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma, and cancer. They make frequent visits to doctors and often take multiple medications.
45 Comments
saw this on another blog
it is the coming retirement of the baby boomers that…..
…has ins co’s freaking out. Once the baby boomers move to medicare, the ins cos lose ALOT of revenue – revenue, not just profit. That’s why they want the mandated purchase of health care ins from THEM
ding!
this is looking increasing like an insurance company bailout sold to us as healthcare reform.
i don’t see any other reason to consider mandates.
Based on Day 3 of the mark up hearings one gets a clear sense that Republicans want to drag things on endlessly, go over the same point repeatedly, while Mikulski and Dodd want to move things along, noting the urgency the matter requires.
Watch the video starting at about 1 hr 4 min where Dodd is making this point. The CSPAN camera pans to Orrin Hatch standing with is back to Dodd and talking to Tom Coburn who’s also standing with his back to Dodd. Having contributed nothing to the debate but redundant and pointless verbiage, following McCain’s example, Hatch proceeds to the exit located way in the distance as the camera panned along with him, finally sweeping back to Dodd speaking. (That was very astute bit of direction on the part of CSPAN, capturing the true attitude of the Republicans.)
I think the attitude expressed by Dodd in behalf of Kennedy was a good sign. He’s willing to hear the Republicans out within reason, but has no reason to consider their views beyond that and intends to move things along as quickly as possible.
The public option was mentioned once in a pejorative sense by Enzi after prompting by Mikulski.
Thank you for this post, Scarecrow.
so why aren’t we talking about single payer?
what happened to the blogosphere of 3 years ago — the one where dems who were afraid to support single payer solutions like hr 676 were routinely called cowards?
if the public is ready for single payer why the focus on protecting the private insurance industry with a multipayer system — especially when there are serious questions about whether it will even work to control healthcare costs or ensure universal healthcare?
why aren’t we talking about single payer universal healthcare?
No, no, NO! Please do not contribute to Obama’s and mainstream Democrats’ conflation of health care and health insurance. Here’s the question verbatim: “What about the health care you receive? Are you generally satisfied or dissatisfied with the health care you receive? Would you say you are very (satisfied/dissatisfied) or somewhat (satisfied/dissatisfied)?”
The question does not probe respondents on the adequacy or inadequacy — or even whether — the health care they’re generally satisfied with IS PAID FOR.
Additionally, in deference to Obama and the current conventional discourse, which did not emerge through merit but repetition, marketing, and censorship, the poll asks respondents, for the first time in a CBS/NYT poll, whether they support having a government-administered plan “that would compete with private health insurance plans.”
Compare that question (with 72% of respondents in favor) with the question asked in the January 2009 poll: “Should the government in Washington provide national health insurance, or is this something that should be left only to private enterprise?” (59% in favor). The earlier question is a closer gauge of sentiment in favor of single payer (although it doesn’t expressly call for the elimination of private insurance) and shows enormous support, confirmed repeatedy in other research (neat link, no?).
The extraneous Obama-pleasing qualifier “compete with private health insurance plans” is new. Another question gauges sentiment for having the federal government “guarantee” health insurance for all (64% in favor), but no question using a term like “national health insurance” appears in the current poll.
Americans support single payer, and if they understood the enormous systemic deficiencies of public option vs sweeping aside for-profit insurers altogether, they’d reject the manipulation of their sentiments so as to promulgate the industry-preserving alternative.
I think you’re right. So far, the polls I’ve seen ask very misleading/contradictory questions.
Lying by poll, I guess.
I certainly am not satisfied with the quality of care at any level of the medical system. I think alot of people are still in the “Marcus Welby” phase of thinking the doctor is always well-intentioned and RIGHT…which usually isn’t the case at all these days.
Anyone with a computer should know the facts about a diagnosed condition and see if she/he agrees with it. It’s YOUR body, you live in it and YOU know or should know how you feel.
The gov and others urge us to take a more proactive role in our healthcare, but when we do the doctor’s egos leap into the fray and we’re termed difficult or non-compliant patients. And the HMO’s just make it all worse.
Medicare really started going downhill after Bush;s “Part D” mess. I can’t imagine alot of older folks were too happy when they picked one of the confusing plans and found out later that #1 it didn’t cover the meds they needed #2 cut them off from a doctor they’d grown to trust and had been working with for years. I actually saw this happen several times to confused older folks who couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on.
This patchwork they’re trying to sell US is going to sell US down the road again, you watch; just like the credit card “reform” did….unless we scream our heads off and we’d better start doing it fast or it’ll be too late…
Public Option…….PAH!
I think I accurately summarized the results, but also gave you the details.
My interpretation (not facts) of what is happending in this poll is that people may or may not like their current insurance plans and how the insurance companies deal with them (not tested here), but they may be concerned about losing what they have and replacing it with . . . what? It’s the devil you don’t know problem that’s adding to the “somewhat satified” numbers. That’s just a guess.
And when you get to those 65 and older, they have Medicare, and they’re more likely to be concerned about losing what they have, because they’ve been told, over and over, that some politicos want to take it away. So the question in the pool may be picking up an element of fear of the unknown and the possibility of making things worse, as much as being happy with what they have. Given that, the Obama/Dem strategy has been, “don’t worry; if you like what you have, you can keep it; but if you want more choices, you’ll have them, and one will be a public option.” The poll seems to support that framing, and politically, it’s been harder for the opposition to argument against it. That’s all I meant by “validate.” Those are my opinions.
The alternative would be to tell the public, “the current system sucks and we want to replace is with something that works much better and has a proven track record elsewhere in providing universal care and much lower cost.” Maybe that’s easier to sell, maybe not; maybe it’s easier for the obstructionists to demogogue and frighten people about, maybe not — but that’s the political judgment being made here.
Second, I didn’t say a word about the distinction/conflation between health insurance and health care, which I wrote about months ago, arguing we should not confuse the two. I said then that providing universal care does not require universal insurance coverage, unless you call the national sp plan “coverage.” That’s not explored in the poll, although some may see that issue entwined with questions about a “public” plan.
Finally, I”m a single payer advocate, but I don’t assume there’s only way way to get there. There is a legitimate argument that moving directly from where we are, which has, in varying degrees of intensity, 77% support to single payer would be an enormous understaking and thus should be done in stages.
How does sp come about? Consumers have to let go from what they have — mostly employer-provided health insurance — and embrace something else. Are their chosen providers/doctors/clinics on board? An entire accounting/payment industry gets wiped out, or relegated to a smaller, niche market; existing billing/accounting/computer systems have to changed (don’t underestimate this piece — it can be the most expensive and time-consuming mess), perhaps entirely replaced; the whole system by which hospitals/doctors/providers get compensation needs to be transformed and it all has to be ready when you make the change over.
I’ve seen such transtions in another field and they are difficult and time consuming, frustrating, and invariably subject to glitches that discredit the efforts. Five years later, it’s all working, but the first year or two, and especially the first few months, it’s a mess.
IMO, tt is unreasonable not to think about how this transformation occurs, and to debate about whether its done all at once (been there) or in stages, with key pieces introduced over time (been there, too). The debate needs to be about what you want the system to look like five years from now and how best to get there.
Sorry for delay in responding; I’ve been out all day.
When Obama talks about people being able to keep “what they have,” if they “like” it, he’s talking about their insurance. That’s why I say that when 77% of respondents said they were satisfied with their “health care,” this was not evidence of their “liking what they have” in the Obama sense. That’s what I meant by conflation.
More telling was the 48% who said they were dissatisfied with their medical costs, including insurance premiums and out-of-pockets. (I think that number would have been considerably higher if, instead of throwing in a bunch of questions based on Republican scare points, the survey had asked a series of questions probing whether respondents thought it made sense that they pay vastly more for less care, with poorer national health outcome measures.)
I have no illusions about the difficulty of instituting single payer and no quarrels with gradualism, so long as the objective is honestly defined.
Your summary about the political judgments underlying Obama’s choice framing is succinct and astute. My main quarrel is with the choice of the public option framing as a starting position rather than a fallback in negotiations. The predictable, indeed predicted, result is the current scramble to salvage a public option plan with a shred of residual value.
I’ll have more to say soon (I promise, selise).
(Grammar fix — my boldfaced sentence is missing “with which” before the first dash. Also the first sentence probably contains two more “no”s than necessary.)
this is too obscure a poll. how would they hear about this?
Will the publics voice be heard over that of the lobbyists ?
The insurance lobby is as powerful as the banking lobby or nearly so.
My guess is that we will end up with a watered down bill that only benefits the insurance industry.
Business as usual on capital hill.
I was writing mine when I saw yours.
Well, right now Congress is in church with the lobbyists. Later on at golf course with lobbyists. Then a four course meal, with their families, and oh, yeah, with lobbyists.
Congress is jumping up and down proclaiming DEMOCRACY with regards to Iran while they proceed to say FU to the will of the american people.
In sooooo many ways.
Let’s start with 2000 and 2004.
The fraud perpetrated in those elections cost us trillions and 4300 lives lost, plus tens of thousands wounded.
But now we want to position ourselves as moral authorities wrt election results.
Please.
Now let’s move on to health care.
75% of us want a public option, and it is becoming abundantly clear it’s gonna damn near take riots in the streets to even get a watered down version of that.
Just disgusting what our political process has turned into.
I was pleased to see the poll because an associate told me yesterday that our call-ins to our representatives and senators are countered by counter-callers who represent special interests and not citizens. He cited the flip-flop on the bailout in the Fall as an example of a ’surge’ of counter call-ins.
At least with a poll there might be more objectivity, although as someone in the thread pointed out, there are different ways of posing questions which might bias the answers and the results of the poll.
The health care/big pharma lobbying in the first quarter totaled over $33 million.
ah, well then any reform must be centered around protecting the private insurance industry.
This, like most other “Where’s Congress?” questions has one answer: “Canoodlng in the pockets of their special-interest donors.” Until we have serious campaign finance reform, the Congress will not respond to the public’s needs & wishes. Government leaders should be, well, leaders, but they’re not capable even of following as long as it is not in their personal interest to work for the public good.
The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com
scarecrow – i left you a comment deep in epu-land (and about a half dozen of your posts ago) re the cost issues we were discussing. turns out once again drsteveb was all over this issue. i’ll try to post something on it later today:
http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/…..ment-51040
“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. . . A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.”
– Barack Obama. June 30, 2003
I just threw that back at the WH, with my comments on why it’s going nowhere, and my mother’s description of what their health-insurance provider did (it wasn’t coverage denial, it was nonpayment because ‘Medicare paid 80% so we don’t need to pay anything’).
Qualifications….. RN for over 30 years, worked acute care for 21 years, 11 years in the belly of the beast(various health insurance companies) ….And I have lived in Europe…. so know from citizens how these plans work.
Please widely separate Heath care for people from Insurance for those they cover. They are NOT related except a physician orders something and someone decides to pay for it.
My dream plan would be an expanded standard Medicare A & B plan with an increased provider fee schedule and including the requirement for providers to accept the Medicare fee. Create a Medicare RX plan that is part of a government plan WITHOUT the doughnuthole…. Let the private guys dry on the vine……
If someone wants higher coverage, let them buy up on a private policy….. like they do in some provinces in Canada, UK and France….. none have “socialized” medicine….. ONLY the VA is truly socialized ….. can you imagine those repug vets having their SOCIALIZED healthcare taken away?
That’s pretty much where I am, in terms of where we need to be within 5 (optimistic) to 10 years (more likely).
How we move today’s corrupt, indefensible system to that goal is the trick. We have huge vested interests, a corrupt media, a corrupt Congress, and fear, lies, and inertia all working against that. All of that has to be overcome one piece at a time. That is why polls like this one, though not significantly different from previous polls and not as precise as we might like, are helpful and why I highlighted it.
I am wondering if it would be a handy information to list every senator and how long they have been on government paid health insurance, Sen Byrd = kazillion years, Lieberman since the 70’s ….. if they have had NO other experience but their nice cushy government plan.
What ever became of the idea and phrase ….. have a plan like congress has?
Bingo — My favorite hat guy is doing just what you suggest. Track down each Senator and reveal where they take advantage of a health care system they would deny to others.
We need MORE like this:
http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/5876
5 or 10 years from now we may not have both houses of congress and the presidency in the hands of the democrats. we have a popular and gifted president.
i don’t think we can count on that lasting. especially if the dems continue to cater to their big money donors without delivering to the people.
my 2 cents. ymmv.
I’m not suggesting we wait 5 years to decide what we want. We decide now, but it takes about 5 years to get it all in place. But you make the commitments and start building the pieces now.
my bad. thanks for correcting my misunderstanding.
p.s. conyer says hr 676 should have a 15 year period to complete the transition.
Along with your points, I would like to see an increased investment in med and nursing schools with scholarships for all who can meet the standards. It is also a way to get doctors in the specialties in which there are shortages. There used to be more public health institutions. Now, if you can’t afford medical school, the military is about the only way to get your med school paid for. We should have the equivalent for civilian service. Instead we seem to rely on immigrants from places like India and the Philippines to fill those slots while Amercian citizens cannot get into or afford our med and nursing schools. How did this come about? Why isn’t congress talking about this as part of the reform package?
mre and more of us PNers are learning a hell of a lot more about our diseases thaN 90% of our doctors have knowN and we are slowly educating them and one another, as well a more and more becoming advocates for just laws, policies, and services to meet our needs.
Thanks Selise for continuing to call us back to 676 and Scarecrow for keeping us updated on the issue’s evolution and the FDL’s community for giving us tools for advocating for what we believe in.
Blessings to all
Where’s COngress?
That’s any easy one – Congress is at the Healthcare Avoidance Industry trough selling their votes.
congress is where they have always been. At the beck and call of their masters, corporations. They set up a system of legal bribery to allow the corporations bagmen- lobbyists-total access by buying the senate and the house. While they need us every 2 or 6 years to get reelected, the rest of the time we get ignored while the lobbyist(bagman) who can give out money and favors gets in to see them. The only solution that I see is to throw all the bastards out, but that will never happen as long as everyone says my congressman is a good guy, its all the others who are crooks. Well, we are wrong, almost every single person in congress can be bought and once bought they stay bought. We have the govt that we deserve. I see little or no difference between the dems and the rethugs, neither side looks to help we the people rather they are out to ensure that the corps interests are taken care of.
If we could force congress to stop lobbyists paying off congress in the form of “contributions” then they would go back to the old way, passing out envelopes filled with cash. Here in Texas it has been known for a member of the ledge to accept a cash filled envelope right on the floor while the ledge is in session. Are they more honest crooks than the US congress?
In the end the people will lose and the corporations will buy congress to get what they want. The USA is already a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational corporations. Back in the early 1900s we sent out the USMC to enforce the actions of corps like United Fruit, we continue to do it today with the able assistance of the MSM.
…will Congress get the message?
No
If there is this kind of support for ‘national health insurance’ and if you look at the contributions that President Obama received from the ‘little man’ (i.e., public) for the campaign, then why isn’t there a major lobbying presence (e.g., Health Care Lobby by the People for the People) reflecting this interest/perspective in the Halls of Congress?
If I remember my economics correctly, the answer would lie in the fact that the “special interests” have much more “utility” (i.e., a lot to gain or lose) compared to a relatively disinterested party. But is that true? Given the lower transaction costs of the internet, could there be a way to raise the kinds of funds that President Obama was able to generate for his campaign? I’d love the idea of a monster lobby presence that reflected the interests of 60+% of the public.
The pollsters are polling the wrong audience. If you want to know where Congress is on the issue, you have to poll the Insurance Industry, not the citizenry.
I agree the polling audience is wrong. I recommend that the polling should include the poor and homeless and the Medicare Seniors who aren’t at all pleased with their coverage.
Republicans and blue dog Dems seem to think that the present convoluted complex byzantine health care insurance system run by greedy corporate executives for their own private gain is fine and dandy. They are happy to have insurance company attorneys and seventeen paper-shufflers between you and your doctor. We need a strong public option non-profit health care system as a step towards single payer.
o/t: Corporations would seem to be running America. Billions to bail out the Wall Street pigs, speculators and criminals. A few late crumbs tossed to American auto manufacturers. And President Obama is continuing the traditional imperialist US foreign policy speading misery all around the third world. And the Democrats in the House and Senate goosestep along with President Obama’s imperial occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. We spread misery whereever our military forces go.
The Iranian people are still be forced to harvest the bitter fruits of US imperial intervention and meddling in their country some fifty-six years ago
I think we know where congress is..in the pockets of insu companies.
The bigger question is: where’s Obama, really, where’s Obama? My answer would be that he’s listening to Rahm whispering in his ear.
Maher misspoke. Obama should be more like Truman~
Selling healthcare on ABC this Wednesday.
Forgive my logistical incompetence in trying to get my affirmations of others and my own assertions in the proper form so that my responses such as the above don’t turn out with pathetic and silly editing failures. Someday…. Guess it takes a lot more practice……
(((marchan1940)))
it’s the content that matters, not the form. thank you for your kind words and for the wisdom that you share from your experience.
p.s. the parentheses surrounding your name are meant to represent electronic hugs.
Congress has allowed this mess to happen . Cspan cameras viewed lobbyist handing out checks on the floor of Congress . They know it , we know it and they know we know it . This debate goes back to before FDR and the results are always the same . The media writes about all the scenarios of “what if’s” , “what about” , costs , throw in some illegal immigrants , and why the American citizen will not want it no matter what the plan is . The American Citizen wants help with health care costs and the money Congress is yelling about belongs to the American Citizen and if it is spent to help the American Citizen then it is not “welfare” and should not be taxed . Let’s all take a month or two of not paying all insurance bills at the same time . We only pay in case something happens and something seldom happens so we are just paying for nothing .
Thanks Selise, for the affirmation. I learned (by intuition) many months ago that the parens meant hugs; hugs back to you and all.
Intriguing proposal, unionave, 42 above. Let’s all take a month or two of not paying all insurance bills at the same time . We only pay in case something happens and something seldom happens so we are just paying for nothing .
Had been looking for a handle on how Americans might take a stand as the Iranians are doing (or at least somewhat, symbolically….). And what’s my stopper?
I’ve been struggling to get a doctor for a specific medical procedure for dealing with my neuro/spinal/muscular disability for two plus years, which my Medicare Advantage (MA) plan would presumably cover, so that I could, presumably, have an active life, without being in significant pain and suffering and on heavy drugs, as I’ve lived for the last few years.
And after multiple screw ups on the MA’s dental coverage plan, I’m about to finally get that resolved, I hope.
So, am I willing to jeopardize those two objectives by not paying my premiums (which have essentially doubled this year over last year, and are projected to double again in the coming year). Probably not.
So, I’m chicken; a logistical hypocrite and I don’t l like myself for being that. Nor do I like the ongoing vulnerability that the current status quo keeps me and so many others stuck in; through no fault of our own in some dimensions and for many faults of our own in other dimensions. Lord have mercy….
I am reminded of a phrase long attributed (?) to Neihbuhr, “the Lord does not call us to succeed, only to remain faithful” Thanks be to God.
Blessings to all,
“where’s congress” with their heads up the Insurance companies asses