These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
What Voters Like About The Health Care Plan
Monday, January 4, 2010
While most Americans continue to oppose the overall health care plan working its way through Congress, two reforms in the plan are supported by more than 70% of the public - creating a new national insurance exchange and requiring health insurance companies to accept applicants with pre-existing conditions.
New Rasmussen Reports national telephone polling finds that support for many other specifics in the plan ranges from just under to just over the 50% mark. But options about how to pay for the plan are less popular.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) favor the creation of an insurance exchange where people can shop for competing insurance plans. That figure includes 45% who Strongly Favor the exchange and is consistent with earlier polling showing that people tend to see competition as the best way to bring down the cost of health care.
Seventy-four percent (74%) favor imposing new rules on insurance companies and forcing them to accept all applicants without regard to pre-existing conditions. Fifty-two percent (52%) Strongly Favor this aspect of the reform plan.
Three other provisions of the plan attract majority support. Fifty-seven percent (57%) favor providing subsidies to help low-income people buy health insurance and expanding Medicaid to help the poorest get insurance. Fifty-three percent (53%) of voters favor a ban on abortion coverage in any health insurance plan that receives federal subsidies. Finally, 51% are in favor of requiring nearly all employers to provide health insurance for their employees or pay a penalty.
The abortion issue is unique in that most who Strongly Favor the health care plan oppose the abortion ban. On every other aspect of the plan, there is more support among those who favor the overall legislation than among those who oppose it.
Just under half (49%) favor creating an independent board to carry out cost-control reforms within Medicare. Forty-six percent (46%) favor spending several hundred billion dollars over the coming decade to expand coverage of the uninsured, and 44% support requiring every American to buy or obtain health insurance. However, only 24% favor prohibiting people from choosing insurance plans with lower premiums and higher deductibles.
Data released last week shows that voters have a good understanding of what's in the health care legislation .Reminding voters of what's included has virtually no impact on support for the overall plan. This suggests that there are not major surprises in the legislation that will cause people to change their opinion of it.
One popular reform that's not included in the proposals before Congress is tort reform. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters nationwide favor limiting the amount of money a jury can award a plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit . A plurality (47%) believes restricting jury awards for medical malpractice lawsuits will significantly reduce the cost of health care in the United States.