November 17, 2009 6:30 PM

Poll Shows Support for Public Option, But Not for Full Bill

By
Stephanie Condon
Topics
Polling
(CBS)
Americans would strongly prefer a health care bill that includes a public option to a bill without it, a new CBS News poll shows, and only one in four say their preference is no health care legislation at all.

However, most Americans remain doubtful that the proposals currently before Congress would help them personally, according to the poll, conducted Nov. 13 -16. And amid a debate over restricting abortion coverage in the health care bill, more than half say federal subsidies for health care plans should not be allowed to pay for abortions.


The Public Option

When asked what kind of health care bill Congress should pass, 51 percent of Americans said a bill that contains a government-run health insurance plan, or "public option." Sixteen percent said a bill without a public option, while only 26 percent said they want no bill at all. Seven percent did not know or had no answer.

Democrats (by 72 percent to 13 percent) and independents (by 47 percent to 15 percent) prefer a bill with a public option over a bill without one. Among Republicans, just 23 percent want a public option, 20 percent want a bill without it, and 51 percent want no health care reform bill at all.

Track the Progress of Health Care Reform
CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care

Views on the overall package of reform under consideration in Congress, as people understand it now, remain more negative (45 percent) than positive (40 percent), and split along partisan lines. Among Republicans, 74 percent disapprove and 20 percent approve. One quarter of Democrats disapprove of the proposals and 57 percent approve.

Just 19 percent of Americans think the changes would actually help them personally. That figure has remained unchanged since August. As many as 34 percent think the proposals would actually hurt them, while 41 percent say they would have no effect.

(CBS)
Health Care and Abortion Coverage

The House touched off controversy last week when it passed a health care bill containing an amendment addressing abortion coverage.

Although most Americans favor keeping abortion legal, most people, at 56 percent, think in principle federal subsidies for health care plans should not be allowed to pay for abortions. Views divide along ideological – not gender – lines: 57 percent of liberals think government subsidies should be allowed to pay for abortions, while 34 percent of moderates and just 20 percent of conservatives agree.


Views of Congress, the President

Americans continue to disapprove of how both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are handling health care reform. Democrats, with a 30 percent approval rating, do only slightly better than Republicans, at 23 percent. The negativity is not new, though positive views have slightly increased for both parties since the House passed its version of a reform bill.

The nation's Democrats just marginally approve of how their own party is doing on the issue: 51 percent of Democrats approve of how their congressional members are handling health care, while 41 percent disapprove.

But even fewer Republicans – 42 percent -- approve of how congressional Republicans are dealing with the issue.

President Obama's approval rating on health care stands at 44 percent. While 72 percent of Democrats approve, nearly a quarter of them disapprove. Republicans overwhelmingly (eight in 10) disapprove.

Read the Complete Poll

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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1167 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone November 13-16, 2009. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.
This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

Add a Comment
by tombreece November 26, 2009 7:41 PM EST
Don't you guys watch Fox "news"? Obama = bad. Helath Care Reform = very bad.

Seriously, with all the lies out there about health care reform, it's amazing that anyone understands anything at all.. Why must we fight the GOP & Rupert Murdoch for life?
Reply to this comment
by conservativeca November 21, 2009 3:06 PM EST
I find this poll interesting because it does not reflect the cross section of America. Come election time this will not reflect kindly on those who are not listening to the country. This poll does not reflect the people....something is wrong with data collected. Why isn't it being said. We WANT REFORM! JUST NOT THIS KIND OF REFORM. MOST AMERICAN'S REALIZE IT IS TOO HARD TO GET QUALITY AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE BUT WE WILL NOT COMPROMISE. WE WANT CHOICE AND TIME TO DECIDE ON THOSE CHOICES, THIS IS TOO IMPORTANT TO CRAM DOWN OUR THROATS AND FORCE US TO ACCEPT. REVENGE WILL BE GREAT AT THE POLLS. MEDICAL COMMUNITY MUST RISE UP AND SHOW OUTRAGE TO THIS ONE AND ONLY OPTION. AMERICA LEADS THE WORLD IN DISEASE RESEARCH, PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE. AS FORMER PRESIDENT RONALD R. SAID. WE ARE THE BEST NATION IN THE WORLD, AND LEAD THE WORLD OF SCIENCE AND HEALTH CARE. WE STILL DO.
Reply to this comment
by rightbehind November 18, 2009 9:19 AM EST
We need to start looking for replacements for the republicrats.
Reply to this comment
by rightbehind November 18, 2009 8:35 AM EST
We need to go single payer and get rid of the worthless republican created HMOs and health care insurance companies. We need to get rid of more republicans and republicrats to.
Reply to this comment
by bubbadubba November 18, 2009 7:58 AM EST
But, but, but, Rush said..........
LOL
Reply to this comment
by doctorg100 November 18, 2009 6:39 AM EST
I don't like cbs reporting on it's own poll it's a conflict of interest. Lets look at The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 49% are opposed to the plan.
Intensity is still stronger among those who oppose the push to change the nation?s health care system: 25% Strongly Favor the plan while 39% are Strongly Opposed.

When Zabel and Williams released a video on the Internet expressing their concerns over the Obama administration?s plans to use a cap and trade program to fight climate change, they were told to keep it to themselves.



Laurie Williams and husband Alan Zabel worked as lawyers for the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, in its San Francisco office for more than 20 years, and they know more about climate change than most politicians. But when the couple released a video on the Internet expressing their concerns over the Obama administration?s plans to use cap-and-trade legislation to fight climate change, they were told to keep it to themselves.

Williams and Zabel oppose cap and trade -- a controversial government allowance program in which companies are issued emissions limits, or caps, which they can then trade -- as a means to fight climate change.

On their own time, Williams and Zabel made a video expressing these opinions.

VIDEO: EPA Employees Speak Out Against Cap and Trade

"Cap-and-trade with offsets provides a false sense of progress and puts money in the pockets of investors," Zabel said in the video. "We think that these restrictions might not be constitutional," he said.

Their bosses in San Francisco approved the effort by Williams and Zabel to release the tape, but after an editorial they wrote appeared in the Washington Post, EPA Director Lisa Jackson ordered the pair to remove the video or face disciplinary action.

Specifically, the administration's chief environmental official did not want Williams or Zabel mentioning their four decades with the EPA -- time spent studying cap and trade.

"The people who understand the problems with the cap and trade with offsets bill are not being heard," Williams told Fox News.

The EPA issued a statement saying it welcomes free expression provided employees adhere to ethics rules. The agency reportedly doesn't object to the content of the video but requires Williams and Zabel to make it clearer that they are speaking for themselves and not the EPA.

But some Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee want an investigation into what ? if any -- regulations Zabel and Williams violated.

Critics argue the action contradicts the president's support for open government.

"It's censorship," Jeff Ruch, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told Fox News.

"If the Obama administration believes in transparency it is precisely in these cases they need to prove it."
Reply to this comment
by reveal4 November 17, 2009 7:49 PM EST
Again, 25 % is a number which keeps showing up. 15% to 25% is the number of individuals who simply oppose. In this case, the blog does not represent a cross section of America. However, the large group of bloggers here who simply oppose any reform are part of the 25%'ers.
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