Polling Shows Increasing Public Dissatisfaction With Health Care
There has been an incredible shift in public opinion about health care in this state the Field Poll revealed today. The campaign to raise public awareness about the failing health care system has been highly effective, even if voters are more divided about what to do about it. SacBee:
In a dramatic shift in public attitudes, more than two-thirds of California voters now say they are unhappy with the health care system and increasing numbers favor a government-run system covering all state residents, a new Field Poll revealed Tuesday.
The survey of 536 registered voters showed that 69 percent are dissatisfied with the health care system in California, with 42 percent saying they are "very dissatisfied" and 28 percent saying they are content with the current system.
Those numbers -- in a poll taken Aug. 3-12 -- contrast starkly with responses to a similar Field Poll last December. Then, 51 percent of voters said they were satisfied with the way the health care system was functioning, compared with 44 percent who were dissatisfied.
We would need more detailed polling on the subject, but I believe that the campaign has brought more understanding by the public of just how terrible the system is right now and that there is a lot of potential to make it better. Before, people just assumed that was how it was and put up with it, even though many have had terrible experiences with managed care and had been paying increasing amounts for their insurance. Films like SiCKO and other public education programs have brought to the voters attention ways that we can improve the system. While they may disagree on how exactly to fix it, the desire for significant change is great.
"This is a clear signal that people want change," said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, a Sacramento consumer group that supports both a single-payer proposal and legislation aimed at reforming the current system.
"What you have here is two-thirds of California saying they want a major expansion of group coverage," he said. "People are looking for reform, and they want the government to make the system fair."
Anthony makes a number of excellent further points about this poll in his blog post today.
Skeptics can read the question about "preferences about ways to improve the health care system" that there's isn't consensus about how to fix the health care system: one-third (36%) support "a new state government-run system" (getting a big bump from 24% in December), and one-third (33%) support "reform within the framework of current health insurance system... through shared responsibilities" (down from 52% in December.)
First of all, let's be clear that very few (14%, down from 18% in December) chose the "rely on free market competition" option. Yet that's the rhetoric of the legislative Republican proposals here in California, and of President Bush nationally.
Second, the poll forced a false choice: From my review of other polling, I think that both the "single-payer" option and the "shared responsibility" options would get higher percentages--in fact, majorities--if the questions were put one at the time.
The false choice is also in the wording. Senator Kuehl has written eloquently about how her single-payer bill is "shared responsibility," with individuals, employers, and government all paying into a common system, building on current programs like Medicare. And many of those who want to replace the current system would surely support expanding public programs and placing more oversight over insurers.
Field ran the same question on the type of system voters would support, so it isn't the shift in numbers Anthony is taking question with, but rather the way the whole thing was worded, compared to other polling on the subject. He argues that voters will support both single-payer and what Field calls here "shared responsibility", if they are asked about them separately. Indeed many organizations and legislators are supportive of both SB840 and AB8.
This poll is over all good news for reformers. The long term goal of passing single-payer got a boost, as did the dissatisfaction in the current system. The skepticism of voters that the legislature will not actually pass anything should not stop anything. Where there is a will there is a way. There most certainly is a will by both the legislators, voters and organizations to get something substantial done in the next few weeks.