Poll: Support for Public Option Grows

CBS News Poll Shows More Americans Support a Government-Sponsored Health Care Option After the President's Speech to Congress

(CBS)  President Obama made some progress explaining his health care reform proposals to Americans with his speech Wednesday night, a new CBS News poll shows, winning more support for a so-called public option. Still, Americans are mostly doubtful health care coverage can be expanded to more Americans without increasing the deficit.

After Mr. Obama’s Congressional address on health care reform, CBS re-interviewed 648 adults who were first interviewed in a CBS News Poll conducted August 27-31. Fifty-three percent of them say they tuned in to watch the speech.

Among those who watched, 60 percent say they mostly agree with the health care plans the president presented; 33 percent mostly disagree.

Many Americans still aren’t sure he has met one important goal -- clarifying what reforms would mean - although there has been major improvement.

Policy Options

In his speech, President Obama offered support for the so-called “public option” -- a government-administered health insurance plan -- but said it was only one part of his plan. Support for the public option has risen since last week from 57 percent to 68 percent. Among speech watchers, support for the public option lies at 70 percent.

The president also discussed reforms, such as requiring health insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions and mandating coverage for everyone.

CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care

Most Americans - 73 percent - support such increased regulation of insurance companies (including a limit on the ability of companies to deny people coverage). The public is more divided on the issue of requiring all Americans to buy health insurance, but 54 percent still favors that.

In his speech, Mr. Obama argued that a public health option, health exchanges, and other reforms would increase competition in the health insurance marketplace. While 46 percent of Americans agree with the president, 19 percent disagree, and 26 percent say there would be no impact.

There are still some doubts about whether health care coverage can be expanded to more Americans without increasing the deficit. While 52 percent say that is not possible, 42 percent think it is.

Bipartisanship

After the speech, 52 percent say they approve of how the president is handling health care, up from 40 percent last week.

The president’s speech was particularly successful in unifying Democrats. As many as 85 percent of them now approve of Mr. Obama’s handling of health care. And even though approval also rose among independents and Republicans, independents are still divided, and only 17 percent of Republicans approve the president’s handling of health care.

As is often the case in presidential addresses, Americans who watched the speech were more likely to be from the president’s own political party. Forty-two of speech watchers identified themselves as Democrats, 27 percent were Republicans and 31 percent were independents.

CBSNews.com Poll Database

Fifty-three percent of speech watchers think health care in the U.S. would get better if the plans Mr. Obama laid out in his speech are adopted. In September 1993, President Bill Clinton received slightly more positive reviews for his proposals after his speech on health care reform at 60 percent.

Mr. Obama said in his speech, “the time for bickering is over” and “we must bring the best ideas of both parties together.” Nearly two in three Americans, at 65 percent, think the president is trying to work with Republicans in Congress in order to bring about health care reform.

Most Americans (61 percent) see the passage of health care reform as likely to happen by the end of this year, but just one in five call it very likely.

Still, most Americans remain skeptical about how reforms currently under consideration in Congress would affect them personally. Only 22 percent think these plans would help them. A sizeable number thinks these reforms would either have no effect (42 percent) or would hurt them personally (27 percent). These numbers are virtually the same as last week.

Read the Complete Poll


Full CBSNews.com coverage of the president's speech on health care:

Obama Tells Congress to Stop Bickering
Full Video Full Transcript Speech Highlights
GOP Response: "It's Time to Start Over"
Marc Ambinder: Will Obama's Sales Job Work?
Mark Knoller: Obama Willing to Compromise - Up to a Point
Was Obama Clear on the Public Option?
Ted Kennedy's Letter to Obama
Rep. Wilson Apologizes for Obama Speech Outburst
Analysis: The Road Ahead for Health Care

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This poll was conducted by telephone on September 10, 2009 among 648 adults first interviewed by CBS News August 27-31, 2009. Phone numbers were dialed from 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 four percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

[peggy97478]

There is no way a Public Option will be accepted by the majority of the people in this country. They love their freedom more than they love "free" stuff from an incompetent, corrupt government who makes a very expensive mess of everything they attempt to do.

[babooph]

Pvt. ins.-execs take premiums-1st take massive salary ,pvt jets ,country clubs,mansions ,parties ,mistress apt & diamonds-next get claims sent to Philippines ,where "examiners" are paid a percentage of what they DENY-idiots then march to demand this continues..........

[babooph]

If we have a public option,will martians midgets & pygmies come & turn our children to Satan?-you see I just got back from church and.......

[babooph]

Poll again after the Christian ministers tell the flock a public option will have martians& pygmies eat their children& force the rest to be satan worshippers.

[opinionsrule]

I don't see how this poll is accurate considering President Obama speeches are like headlines. You have to read the details to see if this is a good option which he is not giving us because there arn't any. I want the details, don't you?

[jem0309]

a public option is no different than medicare, the VA, the post office, etc. it is very likely it would keep costs reasonable rather than the constant skyrocketing we are experiencing annually. democrats actually have been getting more support from healthcare professionals than the party of 'no'. at least a public option for those who cannot afford private insurance is necessary. we can no longer be the only wealthy country in the world to not offer universal health care.

[msimamaji]

Finally the truth is surfacing. Here' some more evidence that doesn't make the news, but is good reason to consider when we are discussiong a public option. I got all this information from Center for Responsive Politics. If you want to check my facts, PLEASE, be my guest.

GOP minority leader Senator Mitch McConnell who hates Obama with a purple passion. When I logged onto Center for Responsive Politics, I discovered that Senator Mitch McConnell gets $ 2 million in political campaign contributions from the health sector. He gets $ 1 million from lobbyists. His top political donor is Kindred Health Care. Among the other top 20 campaign donors are Humana Inc, Blue Cross, and GalaxoSmithKline. I might add that Humana practices something that Cheryl Tidwell, a Humana executive calls "controlling utilization." (Source David Sirota, from an article on the Huffington Post, August 28.)

Does any one in Kentucky know that when they buy Blue Cross, they are giving Mitch McConnell a campaign contribution? Do they know that Mitch McConnel gets money from a company that uses a dreaded death panel to determine which policy holder lives and dies?

I don't think so.

Another example of public misinformation is Senator Olympia Snowe, who has received a lot of plaudits as a "moderate." Snowe's pet idea of compromise is a "trigger." However, if you do the research you will discover Snowe's hidden agenda. Olympia J Snowe gets $ 360,000 from the health sector. Aetna Inc is her 2nd individual top donor. She also gets campaign contributions from Spectrum Medical, and Goldman Sachs. So Snowe's "trigger" is really a snow job.

The same could be said about the other members of the famous or rather infamous Gang of Six.

The top 6 contributors for Charles Grassley include Blue Cross, 2nd place: Select Medical Group, 3rd place; and Amgen. Throughout Grassley's career he has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the industries health insurance industry, health products, and pharmaceuticals.

Mike Enzi's top political contributor is Pharmaceutical industry. Health professionals get 2nd place, and lobbyists take 7th place. Some of his top individual contributors include Blue Cross, Amgen, Merck & Co, and Goldman Sachs.

For the Gang of Six, Bi-partisan really means BUY-Partisan.

Of the top 20 industries that contribute to Ben Nelson's political campaigns, the insurance industry takes 2nd place; 3rd place securities and investments; 4th place lobbyists; 5th place health professionals; and 7th place pharmaceuticals and health products. Over his political career, Ben Nelson has received $610,000 from the health sector and $ 739,000 from lobbyists.

His top 20 individual contributors include Amgen, Aetna, Healthsouth, Inc. IN addition, Nelson gets contributions from Altria, the nation's major tobacco company, and his top political contributor is NelNet, which finances student loans.

If we examine the industries that donate to Max Baucus' campaign funds, we find that securities and investments take 1st place; insurance, 3rd, pharmaceuticals, 4th; and health professionals, Individual contributors include Goldman Sachs, 2nd place; and Aetna Inc, and Amgen tied for 5th. Blue Cross/Blue shield, Morgan Stanley, and Altria are also among Baucus' top contributors..

Over his political career, Kent Conrad has received $ 1 million in political campaign contributions from the health sector. In fact, insurance industry is Conrad's 2nd larger campaign contributor .

Joe Wilson, is yet another example of special interests.

Among Wuilson'scontributors, health professionals took 1st place. Joe Wilson also gets hefty campaign contributions from lobbyists, for-profit hospitals and nursing homes, pharmaceuticals/health products, insurance companies, and securities and investments. If I conduct a sector analysis, the for-profit health sector is Wilson's biggest contributor. Individual corporations which contribute heavily to Wilson's political campaigns include American Hospital Association and Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Furthermore, if you read an article by Holly Bailey on Newsweek.com, you'll discover Joe Wilson voted 11 times against health care for Veterans, even though Wilson himself receives TRICARE, a government-run health care program for Veterans. Wilson has already apologized to Obama, perhaps he also needs to apologize to our veterans.

It's no small wonder why so many Congressmen hate Obama and the public option. Obama is a threat to their source of campaign revenue.

In fact, when Obama stated that a public option will keep insurance companies honest, he was right on target. Right now, our health care system encourages and rewards fraud, bribery and dishonesty. For those of us who want our health care dollars going to us and not venal Congressmen, a public option is our only recourse.

[whosaid1]

Yeah....just proves that you can "twist" the data to say anything you want it to....what a joke....

[babooph]

It is what the lobbyists bribed for,that we will get -DID THEY TEACH YOU THAT IN SCHOOL????!!

[rmonroe401]

What I want to know is why not a single tv news broadcast will EVER EVER EVER say that 85% of the public support the public option. All I hear is how bad it is, how horrible it is, how everyone is against it. Well the voters are not against it obviously. The voters that got Obama where he is today. Enough bs, pass the legislation with the Public Option. If moderate Democrats don't vote for it, try to really see if they will support a filibuster. If they do, the 85% can vote them out of office! I am sick of hearing bad things about the public option day in and day out with no regard to what the people want. And it seems like it is forbidden to broadcast on their networks that a vast majority want it.

[padams10]

The sad truth is ... just like those that followed Jim Jones into the jungle ... Obama's follower WILL drink the cool aid (a.k.a. government health care) AND love it!! By the by ... after this morning's Nancy Giles opinion on Sunday Morning, I'm done with CBS (except for each mornings local news). It was the last program my family was watching on CBS as it was. Now that she has hit me over the head with her, and since she represents CBS, CBS's opinion, I will no longer subject myself and family to CBS's liberal views and obvious support of the current administration. Thank the good Lord for cable AND personal choice ... for now anyway.

[cbs20091]

Did you know that the United States pays for universal health insurance in Afghanistan and Iraq? And we cannot have a good health care system here with our own money? But other countries can with our money? We Americans struggle here in the United States to pay our bills and the US government uses our tax dollars to provide health care in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is so unfair. Let's use our tax dollars here. And let other countries solve their problems. Why we Americans when we do not have money to pay our bills have to provide universal health insurance in Iraq and Afghanistan!!! Let's keep our tax dollars here in the United States.

Good remarks Mr. President!!! Now let's go and get a bill so that you can sign it. It will be good for the American people who are struggling financially. The insurance companies will not bully us anymore. They will not deny claims anymore to put money in the pockets of CEOs. Those CEOs who denied claims to put money in their pockets must go to jail because they killed sick Americans.

[woeisme1]

by SimplySuper September 11, 2009 7:36 PM EDT

Yeah, and too bad he got smacked down for lying.

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He did huh? Hmmmmmmmm, let's see here:

Approval for the Public Option has risen since Wednesday.

Obama's approval ratings have gained 18 points since Wednesday.

Obama did'nt have to apologize for anything.

Senator Wilson, a die-hard Confederate, did have to apologize.

The republicans were made to look foolish, as they are.

Who got slapped down again????

[velma179]

No, it is not misleading.

Just because you disagree and don't have a "handy poll" to use for your propaganda posts, does not mean the media has somehow "come under control"

For your information ... YOUR favorite poll has Pres Obama's approval index steadily IMPROVING and I imagine when the entire weekly calculations come out, even Rasmussen will bear out this "uptick".

Reference... 0n 9-8 the approval index on Ras was (-11)
9-11 it is (-5)

While people who care about facts, know Rasmussen OPINION polling is always an outlier and weighted to the Republican contingency... it is understood all pollsters do have to maintain SOME objectivity if they want to stay in business.

[mariannpepit]

I cannot understand the commentors who are backing Health Care Reform when this country doesn't need the backing of the government. Government controlled insurance would be like living in a communistic country. If the government controlls our insurance what else would they get to control. America better wake up instead of listening to a speech by Obama telling you lies that you believe. Are Americans really that dumb? Joe Wilson isn't one of them because he is wise to that reform policy. I give him credit for standing up and telling it like it really is. Democrats don't like the truth because they are the most underhanded corrupt people in politics. Read about Acorn how they swindled MCain on his votes. Obama bought them out by giving them $75 thousand dollars. I hope by the next election time you people will get your brains together not to make another mistake.

[generationc]

Thank you President Obama.

I am one of those Americans with no voice and no job after making a good salary steadily since 1983 and I have very limited very high medical coverage. I also went through a period with no coverage. I did not understand when you were running why you asked America to help you in changing our Country. That is, until I see how divisive and corrupt the Republican Party has been. We will help you fight to help us. I have older retired family members and for the Republicans to lie and insinuate lies about killing them is beyond unethical. It should be unlawful. They had no regard for the terror and fear they instilled in our seniors. All they wanted to do was to incite a Riot against you by any means necessary. You have people like Beck, Dobbs, and Fox Media News as their cheering section and supporting the lies and the whole time inciting riots all over the United States and they had absolutely no Remorse. They had no compassion. They did not care about who would suffer the most from their lies. Instead of spending this time working on building and supporting a healthcare plan for 46 million Americans, they used the time Congress was on recess to divide America that is, until now.

Then they had an idiot representative respond stating that they want to start all over again. They do not care about America. It is clear that they do not realize that they were given these jobs, not represent Evil or instill hate through lies, but to represent the people, Main Stream America of your state. Mr. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, you do not represent the Americans of your state. You are an Embarrassment. You showed extreme immaturity. The trifling, uncaring, unethical, and ignorant way The Republicans handle themselves clearly shows they are all about political agendas rather helping hurting people who desire change. Thank you President Obama for fighting for Main Street America and we now know that you said Yes We Can, because you need our help. You are not fighting alone any longer. We will help you by voting out the Trash and voting for America. We will Help You to Help Us. YES WE CAN.

[gboyd41]

Sounds like you are wanting someone else to pay for your healthcare. Happy days!-looks like you just might get your wish! By the way-if you are calling a cardiovascular surgeon an idiot- you must be one very smart individual. I feel very humble.

[velma179]

Thank you for your heart felt expression of your opinion, generationc.

****

gboyd41 -- Where do you get the idea that the above poster wants someone else to pay for insurance?

I am guessing you are one who thinks health care reform is ALL about the government taking over. You are so very WRONG, but I imagine trying to explain to you would be futile...

As for a cardiovascular surgeon NOT being an idiot, just because of their profession. No. Going to school to learn a skill doesn't change a person's character, just their ability to perform those skills.

[gboyd41]

Why would you want a health care plan that your elected government officials do not want for themselves, or their families? Why would you be second class citizens?

[mariannpepit]

skyk2009{ If you knew Obama for 20 years are you saying you lived on that southside ghetto? Hyde Park was a complete ghetto until they were forced to clean it up. Obama got caught in his lie by a good republican named Joe Wilson and the dumbocrats were uptight because the truth came out. Obama promised many changes in Washington but brought in Clinton's administration. He was going to close Gitmo the first thing in office. It is still open while a two million dollar prison is sitting empty. His health care package is a gimmick to get the government controll the people's insurance. And if your not alert to the facts anyone who doesn't take the insurance will be fined. That's the president for the people voted for by the dumbo's of this country who didn't have the brains to it on or a window to throw them out of. Why do you think the Town Hall people are in an uproar? One guess tells you he lied to them and everyone else. If he doesn't insure the illegals he won't get their vote. And he will insure them without the public knowing about it.

[Livinontheedge]

Look out far right were coming to get you and put the final nail in your coffin. Tap tap tap. Here that its that Giant hammer tapping on the lid now.

[chonder2]

Sorry, this was a response to Notsouthern's typical reverse bigot post!!

Insurance brings nothing to the table. They are an overpriced accounts payable department.
The highest risk people are over 65 and 90% of health costs are incurred in the last few years
of life. Insurance companies dont want them. Give them to Medicare.
Our soldiers that are mamed need expensive long term life long care and rehabilitation. Give em to the government in the form of the VA.

The poor are higher risk for health problems and they're poor so Give em to Medicaid.
Nursing home care. We wont cover that.
Phsycho care, we wont cover that.
Pre-existing, we wont cover that.
Whats left is "the LOWEST RISK people" but even then the insurance companies are dumping the weakest of them. The insurance companies only care about money. They replaced the medical snake logo with the dollar sign.
Health care will always be rationed but should not be allocated by wealth but by need. For profit insurance companies have a conflict of interest. These decisions must be made by "We the People" through OUR government.

[Stevenapoli7]

Government has never provided anything better than free society.