New Poll by Rasmussen Shows Tremendous Support for Public Health Care Option
Without Public Option, Enthusiasm for Health Care Reform, Especially Among Democrats, Collapses
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
rasmussenreports.com
Just 34% of voters nationwide support the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats if the so-called “public option” is removed. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 57% oppose the plan if it doesn't include a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private insurers.
Last week, Rasmussen Reports tracking found that support for the Congressional plan was at 42%.
While the tracking question did not specifically mention the public option, it referred to the bill proposed by the president and congressional Democrats now working its way through Congress. All of the congressional committees that had passed reform legislation included a government health insurance plan. Therefore, it is reasonable to compare those results with the current polling to measure the potential impact of dropping the public option.
The most dramatic impact is a sharp decline in enthusiastic support. Without the public option, only nine percent (9%) Strongly support the legislation. The earlier poll found 26% Strongly in favor of it.
That enthusiasm gap is especially significant since the percentage of those opposed to the legislation has consistently been higher. Last week’s poll found 44% Strongly opposed to the reform legislation. If the public option is dropped, 37% remain Strongly opposed.
The other dramatic shift can be found in the partisan dynamics.
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Without the public option, just 50% of Democrats support the legislation. That’s down from 69% support measured a week ago. But here the enthusiasm gap is especially strong. A week ago, polling found that 44% of Democrats Strongly favored the reform plan. Without the public option, just 12% of Democrats Strongly support it.
Minus the government insurance option, 68% of Republicans remain opposed to the plan, down from 79%.
As for those not affiliated with either major party, 70% are opposed if the public option is dropped. That’s up from 62% in the previous survey.
Rasmussen Reports will be tracking overall support for the legislation again next week.
These results suggest that the president has difficult choices ahead. A solid majority of unaffiliated voters are opposed to passing health care reform legislation with or without the public option. However, failure to pass a plan of any kind could create additional difficulties for the president, and a plan without the public option does not have the enthusiastic support of his base. This helps explain why, according to the New York Times, senior Democrats are considering going it alone on the reform plan without trying to get any Republican support for it.
Other recent Rasmussen Reports polling highlights the underlying political challenges. Thirty-two percent (32%) of voters favor a single-payer health care system. These voters make up a heavy majority of those who favor passage of health care reform. They view the current legislation as a baby step along the way to a single-payer system. Most Americans oppose a single-payer system and are seeking reassurance that the current plan will not head in that direction.
Overall, when it comes to health care decisions, 51% fear the government more than private insurance companies while 41% hold the opposite view.
Most Americans support the concept of reform, but cost control is seen as the most important aspect of reform. Also, voters simply don’t believe the legislation will deliver the benefits that its advocates claim. Few believe it will increase patient choice or make health care affordable. In fact, most voters believe the passage of the current health care reform effort will lead to higher costs and lower quality of care.
The health care reform debate has helped push Obama’s job approval ratings in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll to new lows.
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