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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (9885)	9/30/2009 7:29:58 AM
From: Lane3	2 Recommendations Respond to of 42652

Hard to tell how popular it is or why it is or isn't popular. "Rasmussen and CBS polls differ greatly on public option in health care and there is a reason why September 29, 12:30 AMPolitical Buzz ExaminerRyan Witt The public option in health care reform has emerged as the central point of contention for many. It is therefore not surprising that polling on the public option has therefore been frequent from varied sources. What is surprising is the wide range of results from polls even accounting for the potential bias from the polling organizations. Depending on who you consult you could believe the American public hates the public option or loves it. A perfect example is provided by recent polling from Rasmussen and CBS on the public option. CBS puts support for the public option at 65%. Rasmussen meanwhile puts support at just 35% for the public option. Is it really possible for either organization (with decent reputations) to be off by 30% in their projections? The answer is no. A closer look at each poll reveals two main reasons why the results differ so greatly. First the survey sample for each poll is significantly different. Rasmussen's poll includes only "likely voters" which excludes more lower incomes individuals and Democrats who support the public option but may not vote. The CBS poll is a telephone survey of all citizens not just "likely voters" which will naturally increase the amount of people who support the public option. While the survey population helps to explain the results an even more important factor can be found in the wording of the questions. CBS ask their audience about the public option with the following question: "Would you favor or oppose government offering everyone a government-administered health insurance plan like Medicare that would compete with private insurance?" Compare that question with the Rasmussen question which asks: "Would it be a good idea to set up a government health insurance company to compete with private health insurance companies?" The CBS poll is clearly more friendly to public option in asking about government offering a "plan" which is "like Medicare" to "compete with private insurance." The idea of a "plan" is much more acceptable than government setting up a "company" under the Rasmussen poll. In addition Medicare is a relatively popular program so setting up a "plan" like Medicare would increase support among many survey participants including seniors. So what can we conclude from these polls? Like most things in politics the rejection or acceptance of an idea largely depends on who you ask and the wording of the question. Whether the public option is supported by a majority of Americans depends largely on whether you believe government is setting up a "plan like Medicare" or a "company.""

To: Road Walker who wrote (9885)	9/30/2009 10:10:33 AM
From: i-node	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42652

Last poll I saw said ~65% of people, and >70% of doctor support a public option; I don' think there is any way 70% of docs support it. Certainly the ones I've talked to don't. There is one young Radiologist, a friend of my daughter's, who was a big Obama supporter, and pretty radical. She was just starting her residency when she voted for him, an ardent supporter. No more. But it was interesting to me that she flipped because she was a vocal supporter, one of the young people who first got involved in politics last year, AND she moved to the pacific NW last year. I attribute it to her having her first experience with the way things actually work, in real life, but I do think other docs have been "working on her".