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."
57% Predict Health Care Plan Will Hurt The Economy
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters say the health care reform plan now working its way through Congress will hurt the U.S. economy.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 25% think the plan will help the economy. But only seven percent (7%) say it will have no impact. Twelve percent (12%) aren't sure.
Two-out-of-three voters (66%) also believe the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats is likely to increase the federal deficit. That's up six points from late November and comparable to findings just after the contentious August congressional recess . Ten percent (10%) say the plan is more likely to reduce the deficit and 14% say it will have no impact on the deficit.
Underlying this concern is a lack of trust in the government numbers. Eighty-one percent (81%) believe it is at least somewhat likely that the health care reform plan will cost more than official estimates. That number includes 66% who say it is very likely that the official projections understate the true cost of the plan.
Just 10% have confidence in the official estimates and say the actual costs are unlikely to be higher.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) also believe it is at least somewhat likely that taxes will have to be raised on the middle class to cover the cost of health care reform. This includes 65% who say middle-class tax hikes are very likely, a six-point increase from late November.
While the president and his congressional allies search for a way to pass their proposed health care plan, most voters remain opposed to it. Forty-two percent (42%) now favor the plan , while 53% are against it, findings that have remained relatively constant since just after Thanksgiving. The new figures include just 20% who Strongly Favor the plan and 41% who are Strongly Opposed.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters say cost is the biggest problem with health care. But 54% believe passage of the proposed health care legislation will lead to higher health care costs.
While the president and supporters of the plan view the lack of universal health coverage as perhaps the biggest problem with health care, only 22% of voters agree. Nine percent (9%) cite the quality of care as the worst problem, and three percent (3%) put the inconvenience of scheduling at the head of the list.
Seventy-six percent (76%) of those with insurance now rate their own coverage as good or excellent. The fact that most Americans are comfortable with their own insurance coverage has proven to be a major obstacle for advocates of reform. Overall, 44% of voters rate the U.S. health care system as good or excellent . Democrats continue to be the strongest supporters of the health care plan, while Republicans and voters not affiliated with either party are the biggest critics.
While 89% of GOP voters and 61% of unaffiliateds, for example, think the proposed health care plan will hurt the economy, just 24% of Democrats agree.
Ninety-three percent (93%) of Republicans and 71% of unaffiliated voters say the health plan being considered by Congress is likely to increase the federal budget deficit. Democrats are more evenly divided: 37% say it's likely to increase the deficit, but 21% of those in the President's party say it's more likely to reduce the deficit.
But even a majority (58%) of Democrats agree that the plan is likely to require a hike in middle-class taxes.
The gap between Mainstream voters and the Political Class is even wider. Sixty percent (60%) of the Political Class say the proposed health care plan will help the economy. Sixty-five percent (65%) of Mainstream voters disagree and say it will hurt.
But then 60% of the Political Class views the lack of universal coverage as the biggest problem with health care in this country. For 61% of Mainstream voters, cost is the biggest problem.
Despite the continuing public opposition to the president's health care plan, 47% believe the legislation is at least somewhat likely to pass, while 39% say it is unlikely to become law. Polling released last week shows that most voters want Congress to scrap the existing plan and start over on health care reform .
Sixty percent (60%) of voters believe Democrats should change the bill to win support from a reasonable number of Republicans. Only 31% believe Democrats should go ahead and pass the bill without Republican support.
Views of the country's short- and long-term economic future are gloomier these days than they have been at any time since Obama took office in January of last year.
Of the four budget priorities laid out by Obama at the start of his presidency, cutting the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term is still the one voters put in first place.
Only 21% of voters nationwide believe the federal government now enjoys the consent of the governed . Seventy-five percent (75%) are at least somewhat angry at the government's current policies . That includes 45% who are Very Angry, a nine-point increase since September.