Poll: The Politics Of Health Care

Most Americans Favor Universal Health Care, Give Democrats Edge On Improving System

(CBS)  Americans think the U.S. health care system is in need of major repairs, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll.

Nine out of 10 say the system needs at least fundamental changes, including 36 percent who favor a complete overhaul.

Although most Americans say they are generally satisfied with the quality of their own health care, including 41 percent who say they are very satisfied, it's a different story when it comes to the cost of care.

Just one in five are very satisfied with what they pay for health care, while a majority (52 percent) are dissatisfied, including a third who are very dissatisfied.

U.S. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM NEEDS…

Minor changes
8%
Fundamental changes
54%
To be completely rebuilt
36%

Americans are even more critical of health care costs in the nation as whole: 59 percent are very dissatisfied with the overall cost of health care in the U.S. and another 22 percent are somewhat dissatisfied.

Most Americans believe government can play a role in fixing the health care system. Two-thirds say the federal government should guarantee that all Americans have health insurance — and a similar number says providing health insurance for all is a more serious problem than keeping health care costs down.

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Read the complete results of this CBS News/New York Times poll

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Eighty-four percent of Americans favor expanding government programs in order to give health insurance to all uninsured children.

Less than one in three, however, say the government would do a better job than private insurance companies at actually providing medical coverage. Forty-four percent said the government would be worse as a health care provider than private companies.

SHOULD GOVERNMENT GUARANTEE HEALTH INSURANCE FOR ALL?

Yes
64%
No
27%


WHICH IS MORE SERIOUS?

Providing health insurance for all
65%
Keeping health care costs down
31%

More Americans do think the government can do a better job than private companies at helping hold down health care costs.

Health care promises to be a crucial issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. In a CBS News poll conducted last month, health care tied with jobs and the economy as the second-most important issue facing the country, following the war in Iraq. It was even more important to Democratic primary voters, ranking ahead of the economy and jobs.

In the new poll, the public gives the Democrats a big edge over the Republicans on handling health care issues. Asked which party they believe will best improve the health care system, 62 percent said the Democrats, while just 19 percent said the Republicans.

PARTY THAT WOULD IMPROVE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Democrats
62%
Republicans
19%

However, none of the top tier of Democratic presidential candidates has yet to gain a significant national edge on the health care issue.

Six in ten Democratic voters expressed confidence in Sen. Hillary Clinton's approach to health care, but more than half of voters nationally said they're uneasy. Voters overall were also more uneasy than confident about both Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards on health care.

But all three Democratic presidential hopefuls rated higher than the current president on the health care issue. Only 17 percent of Americans said they were confident in President Bush's approach to health care, while 77 percent — including about half of Republicans — were uneasy.

Asked to choose which health care topics they'd like to hear the 2008 presidential candidates talk about over the next two years, 34 percent said providing coverage for the uninsured was most important, followed by 28 percent who said reducing health care costs. Eighteen percent said improving the quality of care and a similar number said improving the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

For detailed information on how CBS News conducts public opinion surveys, click here.

This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,281 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone Feb. 23-27, 2007. 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.

[Gram1942]

It's strange how quickly the rhetoric of government-run has been influenced by political ads. In the U.S., our defense depends on government run military services and institutions, and so does our democratic government... Is not Congress and the Senate government run? Also private industry often starts campaigns so that their corporations can take over a government-run service - like the Post Office. Did it get better? In NYS, the push toward private mental health group homes was pushed as being more economical. That was before the CEO's and owners started paying themselves exhobitant salaries - multiple times the amount of any government psychiatric center or mental health agency's director. Efforts to privatize the prisons have failed. Have a riot, and the underpaid prison guards quit. At a NYS festival when the crowd got out of hand, the privately-hired security guards took off their badges and hats and walked away or joined the revelers. Besides the pride in doing a good job, those employed by the government to police, fight fires, guard prisons, provide health care, etc. have a vested interest in a career with retirement and other benefits. In private corporations, only the elite at the top reap rewards while those doing the actual leg work for the corporation do not earn in today's salaries the equivalent of the salaries of the 50's, 60's and 70's. And those salaries were not the cause of any corporation's downfall as corporation management likes to state. Corporation propaganda has taken over. The term old-wives tale should be replaced by CEO tale. No fisherman had ever told such a whopper like a corporation's P.R. release. It should be a crime for them to tell such lies even if it is in an ad or a T.V. spot.

[jwschwanke]

CBS will go to their grave defending this administration. They are part of the reason Obama got elected, guess they are going to ride the band wagon till the wheels fall off. Well the wheels are loose now and come November of this year they will fall off when the GOP takes back the house and the senate. By the way CBS,nice job using a 3 year old poll too! Enjoy your one term president. How about that "CHANGE" America? Great choice! Way to get sold a bill of goods by the main stream press. Hope you all learned something from the experience.

[renogoat]

This poll is great -- for a HISTORIAN! Did anyone else bother to check that the polling took place in 2007? Please CBS, how about conducting a poll sometime this year so we can actually see what the current popular opinion is.

[Jrodriguez71]

I know that health care is something delicate. I came from cuba 4 years ago and and legal over here. As long as I can see here with the health care will happend the fallowing:

1.- Goverment will take over health care make everyone that have a decent Job pay more taxes and pay for other that live from goverment to cover their health

2.- People that works hard and get less than 60k in a year and have to support a family have to forget the retirement or lost his dream because if hardly you can maintaint you family also you have to buy insurance or go to jail??

3.- Why did I have to pay for something that I don't wanna get under my responsability. Sounds like if the goverment create a new news channel adn everyone have to watch it or go to jail and also paid for the transmission.

4.- If the goverment drops the health cost then If I have insurance and is more expensive than the goverment plan, can I change to the goverment plan?? they have to accept everyone on this country not only the 72 millions that they say that don't have cover. They hae to take care everyone but at the same time all the people that work for an health insurer could face to lost this jobs because for an insurer the only way on this economy to drop the price will be cutting jobs or reducing the salary of his worker.

No one could have a dream here if something like this pass through the senate. All the people that discuss this things earn more than 100K yearly, paid taxes but have less worries that someone that make less than 60K on a year and almost can not support his family.

[Dianaguru]

It's not going to turn well...
1.Whenever government is involved, it's going to be a disaster. Don't think that everybody will get the right quality of healthcare....It'll will be much worse.
2. Taxpayers will pay for those who don't work, stay at home and have 5-8 kids.... Doctors will be obliged to accept all patients, and you will have to be on the list for a long time to have a doctor's visit... Can you wait for a month????? That what happens when you have public healthcare....
3.People wouldn't like to go and study to be doctors, so in 10 years we will have a deficit of medical employees.... Then you will strugle for real....

[Dianaguru]

It's not going to turn well...
1.Whenever government is involved, it's going to be a disaster. Don't think that everybody will get the right quality of healthcare....It'll will be much worse.
2. Taxpayers will pay for those who don't work, stay at home and have 5-8 kids.... Doctors will be obliged to accept all patients, and you will have to be on the list for a long time to have a doctor's visit... Can you wait for a month????? That what happens when you have public healthcare....
3.People wouldn't like to go and study to be doctors, so in 10 years we will have a deficit of medical employees.... Then you will strugle for real....

[jpo2009]

Of the 47 million uninsured, 9 million are not US Citizens. Another 9 million American families make more than $75,000 and choose not to have health care. More than 1/2 million Americans over the age of 65 qualify for Medicare but choose not to have it. 30% of people 18-24 have no health coverage, but from my own experience I didn't think I needed it anyways.
The statistics on health care are being skewed to put the government in charge of our health. You know best how to provide health care for yourself and family. We cannot let our government, which cannot estimate the seriousness of our economic meltdown attempt to keep us healthy. It is a very bad idea.

[jpo2009]

Of the 47 million uninsured, 9 million are not US Citizens. Another 9 million American families make more than $75,000 and choose not to have health care. More than 1/2 million Americans over the age of 65 qualify for Medicare but choose not to have it. 30% of people 18-24 have no health coverage, but from my own experience I didn't think I needed it anyways.
The statistics on health care are being skewed to put the government in charge of our health. You know best how to provide health care for yourself and family. We cannot let our government, which cannot estimate the seriousness of our economic meltdown attempt to keep us healthy. It is a very bad idea.

[NBCMichael]

Cost shifting

Why does a four day hospital stay cost $21,000?

America was hooked on health care the way junkies were hooked on smack. The dealer gave free samples until the client was hooked.

When I was a young man and America was the world?s manufacturer. Factories provided free and complete health insurance as part of the benefits package. Because it was free it was abused. Mom took children to the emergency room for a rash and to the doctor for a small cut. Demand was artificially high.

Over time manufacturing jobs moved overseas and were replaced with lower paying service economy jobs. And employers offered health insurance with less coverage and higher deductibles. Was it because America could not compete with manufacturers in countries where government paid for health care. Irregardless, American leaders signed GATT and NAFTA into law!

And America?s leaders permitted millions of illegal aliens to cross the border to do work American?s would not do. Our schools educated their children, our State governments gave them drivers licenses, our banks granted them mortgages and our hospitals provided them health care.

Robin Hood wears whites. Patients with good insurance policies and patients with no insurance policies received inflated invoices to cover the costs of those who could not pay. Hospitals robbed from the rich to provide health care for the poor.

President Obama made the analogy everyone should have to buy health insurance just like every motorist is required to buy auto insurance. But people choose to own a car. Were you asked if you wanted to be born?

If government run universal health care is the answer then private insurance has no place at the table. Where is freedom when government has the power to tell you how to spend after tax dollars? Requiring elderly and the poor to buy health insurance will force some to give up food or shelter!

Nonetheless, since everyone will have government health care, the cost of a hospital stay should be reduced to the price of a high end hotel! Cost shifting will have been replaced by the treasury printing more money.

WAKE UP AMERICA!

Real wealth cannot be created with a printing press. It only creates inflation. Congress must do away with the Fed and reclaim responsibility for regulating the money supply.

Do not bail out failed corporations. Allow free enterprise to transfer wealth to companies that make good decisions.

Do not impose new mileage and pollution requirements on an automobile industry already reeling from a failing economy.

Do not pass Cap and Trade. It will increase the cost of energy and exacerbate America?s failing economy and oppress the poor and middle class.

Do create new jobs in America and keep the wealth here: The Germans fought WWII with synthetic gas produced from coal. America has 1/4th of the coal reserves on Earth. Liquefy coal and declare energy independence from Arab enemies. Now that is sustainable!

[WWWoDEMOCRATZoORG]

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