Kaiser Family Foundation
June 2008
As a result of recent changes in the economy, have you and your family experienced any of the following problems, or not? Was this a serious problem, or not?
Percent of the public saying each was a “serious problem:”
43% – Problems paying for gas
27% – Problems getting a good-paying job or raise in pay
25% – Problems paying for health care and health insurance
19% – Problems paying for food
16% – Problems with credit card debt or other personal debt
15% – Losing money in the stock market
14% – Problems paying your rent or mortgage
Which ONE of the following health care issues would you most like to hear the presidential candidates talk about?
51% – Making health care and health insurance more affordable
22% – Expanding health insurance coverage for the uninsured
10% – Improving the quality of care and reducing medical errors
7% – Reducing the total amount the country spends on health care
4% – Reducing spending on government programs like Medicare/Medicaid
Do you think that the cost of health care is something the president and Congress can do a lot about, do a little about, or is that mostly beyond their control?
62% – A lot
21% – A little
13% – Beyond their control
3% – Don’t know
The presidential candidates have proposed different approaches to improving the health care system in the U.S. Which of the following comes closest to your view?
56% – The main goal of these efforts should be to make sure that EVERYONE is covered by health insurance
41% – The main goal of these efforts should be to make health insurance more available and affordable in the private marketplace, even if everyone doesn’t get covered
When thinking about health insurance coverage in this country, which of the following comes closer to your view?
59% – We need to get everyone into the same insurance pool so we can spread the costs of sick and healthy people over the whole population
32% – Healthier people should not be asked to pay more to subsidize sicker people by being in the same insurance pool with them
10% – Don’t know/Refused
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/h08_posr062508pkg.cfm
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
Paying for health care and health insurance is already a serious problem for one-fourth of us. That is greater than the percent of individuals having serious problems paying for food and housing and paying off credit cards and other personal debt.
The strongest support is for making health care and health insurance affordable. The public also supports covering everyone with insurance, although that support is much weaker amongst Republicans (11%).
A strong majority believes that the president and Congress can do a lot about the cost of health care, suggesting that there is strong support for a major government role in health care reform.
The most reassuring finding in this poll is that almost twice as many people believe that “we need to get everyone into the same insurance pool so we can spread the costs of sick and healthy people over the whole population” as do those who believe that the healthy “should not be asked to pay more to subsidize sicker people by being in the same insurance pool with them.”
And look at the breakdown of the support for a single risk pool covering everyone: 74% of Democrats, 57% of Independents, and 39% of Republicans. Imagine a coalition of the Democrats, a strong majority of Independents, and two-fifths of the Republicans. That should be more than enough to refute the notion that a single payer national health program is not politically feasible. The public already supports the policy; we just need to get them to understand the “single payer” label, or come up with a new one.