|  Candace Talmadge Read Candace's bio and previous columns
April 24, 2009
Americans Support Public
Health Insurance
Alas. It looks more and
more like we cannot get to single-payer health care financing in this round
of reform. So let’s compromise by establishing a public (read: government)
health insurance option among the ocean of private insurance piranhas that
waste so many of our health care dollars.
Having a choice of public
health insurance was among President Obama’s campaign promises. Big hint to
Capitol Hill invertebrates working on reform legislation: Don’t give in to
right-wing attacks on public health insurance. Such an option has
widespread, strong support among the actual American public. Disgusted by
the excesses of greed and fraud on Wall Street and among the health
insurance industry, Americans have become not-so-closeted quasi-socialists.
Nearly three-quarters of
those surveyed prefer a choice between public or private health insurance,
according to a January 2009 poll from Healthcare for America Now. The
national random-dial phone survey of 800 likely voters paired statements
supporting and attacking a public health insurance plan. A majority of
respondents invariably chose the statements backing a public health
insurance plan. (The poll’s margin of error is plus/minus 3.5 percent.)
Looking at the numbers,
this means 73 percent of those surveyed favor a choice between
public/private health insurance. Just 15 support an all-private system, and
9 percent went for all-public health insurance (single-payer). This
pronounced preference holds across partisan lines, too. Among Democrats, 77
percent favor it, while among independents, 79 percent support it. Even 63
percent of Republicans favor a public health care option.
Yet we hear a lot of noise
in Congress and from pundits about how a public health insurance plan would
compete “unfairly” with private health care insurers. It’s amazing how those
who constantly proclaim the virtues of free-market choice also don’t want
such choice to include a government health care plan. (Of course, certain
segments of the public already have that choice – those 65 and older with
Medicare, and the indigent via Medicaid.)
Instead, 60 percent of
those polled agree that if private insurance companies are more efficient,
they won’t have trouble competing with a public health insurance plan. Just
23 percent support the statement that a public health insurance program will
have an unfair advantage over private insurance.
Other findings are more
interesting. Even if it means raising taxes, 60 percent of those
polled support providing affordable, quality health care to all Americans,
and 31 percent oppose such a policy. In other words, Americans by nearly a
two-to-one majority regard health care as a right, not a privilege reserved
only for those who can afford it. So much for all the recent tea-bag
chatter.
Nor are Americans
virulently opposed to a bigger role for government in health care. Some 72
percent of respondents support a major role for government compared with
just 21 percent who disagree. As for claims that we cannot afford an
expanded government health care program in a down economy, 56 percent
disagree compared with 25 percent who support such a statement, a more than
two-to-one margin.
Only 25 percent agree that
a public health insurance plan will shift higher costs onto the privately
insured, while 61 percent believe that a public health insurance plan (like
Medicare) will better control costs via its purchasing power. And when
statements referred to the highly regarded Veterans Administration, support
for the view that a public plan will help control costs rises to 65 percent.
Those polled also reject
the argument that a public health insurance plan will cause millions to be
dumped from their private health insurance. Instead, 68 percent backed the
assertion that with millions of Americans losing their jobs, a public health
insurance plan along with private options will make sure that everyone
always has health insurance.
Even the term “government
plan” doesn’t scare off the public. When that phrase was used in a negative
statement, only 21 percent of respondents support it while 68 percent oppose
the attack on a public health insurance plan. Despite all claims to the
contrary, Americans’ experiences with Medicare and the VA are mostly
positive.
But what would a public
health insurance option look like? There are several proposals floating
around Congress. One with a great deal of clout comes from Jacob Hacker, a
professor of political science at the University of California at Berkeley
who is also co-director of the law school’s Center for Health, Economic and
Family Security. A future column will look at the specifics in this
proposal.
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