Public health option finds backing in poll
A divide persists on Obama’s role and overall plan
WASHINGTON - As Democratic congressional leaders and White House officials work to shape health care bills that will go to the House and Senate floors, a new
Independents and senior citizens, two groups crucial to the debate, have warmed to the idea of a public insurance option and, according to the poll, were particularly supportive if it were administered by the states and limited to those without access to affordable private insurance, as stipulated in some versions of the legislation.
But the poll, conducted Oct. 15-19 using a random sample of 1,004 adults, suggests Americans remain sharply divided about both the overall health care package and President Obama’s leadership on the issue, reflecting the intense partisan battle that has raged for months over the administration’s top legislative priority. In a sign of the fragile coalition politics that now influence the negotiations in Congress, Obama’s approval ratings on health care slipped among his fellow Democrats even as they solidified among independents and seniors. Among Democrats, strong approval of his handling of health care had dropped 15 percentage points since mid-September.
Overall, 45 percent of Americans surveyed favored the broad outlines of the proposals now moving in Congress, while 48 percent were opposed, about the same division as in August at the height of the angry town hall meetings over health care. Seven in 10 Democrats surveyed backed the plan, while almost nine in 10 Republicans opposed it. Independents surveyed divided 52 percent against, 42 percent in favor of the set of reforms.
On the issue that has been a flash point in the national debate, 57 percent of all those surveyed said they now favor a public insurance option, while 40 percent were opposed. Support has risen since mid-August, when a bare majority of respondents, 52 percent, said they favored it.
Faced with a basic strategic choice that soon may confront the administration and Democratic congressional leaders, a slim majority of Americans surveyed, 51 percent, said they would prefer an overhaul that included some form of government insurance for people who cannot get affordable private coverage, even if the plan had no GOP support in Congress. Thirty-seven percent said they would rather have a bipartisan plan without such a choice.
But if there is clear majority support for the public option and the mandate, there appears to be even broader opposition to one of the major mechanisms proposed to pay for the bill. The Senate Finance Committee proposed a tax on the most costly private health insurance plans that would help offset the costs of extending coverage to millions more people. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed opposed the idea, while 35 percent favor it.
Overall, 57 percent approved of the way Obama is handling his job, and 40 percent disapproved.
