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Slide 3 There has been a modest tick back up on voters telling us the health care system is meeting their needs.
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A presentation of key findings from a national survey of 800 likely voters conducted
September 29-October 2, 2005
Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research Associates are pleased to present the results of a national survey conducted September 29th - October 2nd, 2005.
The survey was completed among 800 likely voters on behalf of Ceasefire on Healthcare. The margin of error for this survey is plus or minus 3.5%.
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35%30% 31%
24%16% 20%
27% 30%38%
31% 31% 27%
61%66% 64%
73%81% 77%
71% 68%60%
66% 67% 70%
Jan1992
Oct1992
Nov 51992
Nov 91992
Oct1998
Jan1999
Feb 132002
Dec 132002
Jan 82004
April 182004
April 72005
Oct 22005
Yes No
There has been a modest tick back up on voters telling us the health care system is meeting
their needs.
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However, those voters who do not have health insurance or who have dropped in and out of coverage in the last three years say the system is not meeting their needs.
% Voters Insurance status % Not Meet Needs
8% Not covered now, had insurance in last three years 73%
5% No coverage for last three years or more 66%
14%Covered now, lacked insurance at sometime in last three years
31%
72% Covered for last three years or more 19%
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New trend: Small business owners and employees in smaller companies are also more likely to say the
health care system is not meeting their needs.
% Not Meet Needs
Small business owners 41%Company Size: 1-10 46% 11-100 26% 101-1000 21% Over 1000 21%
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Voters strongly believe the current health care system is not meeting the needs of most Americans.
+43% -44%
Most AmericansYou and Your Family
70%
26%27%
70%
Strongly Meeting Needs Total Meeting NeedsStrongly Not Meeting Needs Total Not Meeting Needs
55% Strongly
13% Strongly
51% Strongly
22% Strongly
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Voters are concerned about the uninsured, although they significantly overestimate the
percentage of those who do not have coverage.
% Lacking Coverage
Adults 43%Children 47%
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So it is not surprising voters tell us healthcare is one of the most important issues to them personally.
32%
28%
25%
25%
20%
Economy & Jobs
Iraq
Health care
Moral values
Education
Top Two Choices/Top Five Issues
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When focusing on health care issues, voters tell us children having access to basic care services is what
is most important to them personally.%8-10
All children have basic care 85%Health care for every American 74%Better preventative health 73%Control out-of-pocket costs 70%
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Republicans, Independents, and Democrats all rank making sure children have access to basic care services as most important to them personally.
There is more of a partisan disconnect on providing health care for every American.
GOP IND DEMAll children have access to basic care services 77% 84% 92%Health care for every American 60% 70% 87%
% 8-10
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When voters were asked about broader health care goals, the issue of covering the uninsured and making health care affordable rise to the top.
% Most Important
Providing basic health insurance coverage to all Americans 37%Making health care more affordable 33%Focusing more on prevention, diagnosis and early treatment 11%People can select doctor or hospital 8%Develop and adopt new medical technologies 4%Maintain high quality of American health care 4%
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Voters believe the U.S. Congress has not made much progress and is not likely to make much progress in addressing the issue of the uninsured in America.
31% 33%
67% 65%
Last 5-10 years Next 5-10 years
A Lot/Some Progress None/Not Too Much Progress
-36% -32%
Progress of the U.S. Congress in addressing the problem of the uninsured in America:
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And, voters clearly want Republicans and Democrats in Congress to compromise on the issue of covering
the uninsured.
Compromise88%
Stick toPosition
8%
Don't Know/Refused
4%
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Voters then heard two different approaches Congress could take to address the issue of the uninsured.
Smaller steps: Coverage now:Instead of covering all the uninsured at once which our government cannot afford, we should work in smaller steps and cover certain groups first, like children, and then work to cover other groups over time.
All Americans deserve basic health care coverage now. We need to work to find a way to pay for the costs of covering all Americans right away.
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Voters are torn about the approach Congress should use to address the issue of the uninsured.
Coverage now44%
Smaller steps54%
Don't Know/Refused
2%
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Republicans and Independents favor the approach of smaller steps while Democrats lean towards
coverage now for everyone.
26%33%
42%50%
61%66% 64%55% 50%
38%
StrongRepublican
(18%)
Weak/LeanRepublican
(20%)
Independent(16%)
Weak/LeanDemocrat
(20%)
StrongDemocrat
(23%)
Coverage Now Smaller Steps
-40% -31% -13% 0% +23%
Proposal Favored by Party
We asked voters their thoughts about the trade-offs that may or may not be required to expand
health care coverage to cover more of the uninsured in the country
today.
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Trade off?
Reduce access to health care services among people who currently have health coverage.
Trade off is: % Necessary 18%Not Necessary 77%
Acceptable 19%Not Acceptable 77%
Here is one where there is no trade-off.Voters clearly find a reduction in access to services
unacceptable and not necessary.
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Trade off?
Have more government involvement in managing the health care system.
Trade off is: % Necessary 51%Not Necessary 45%
Acceptable 45%Not Acceptable 52%
Trade-off: More government involvement.However, voters are torn about the role government
should play in addressing this issue.
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Trade off?
Have all businesses be required by the government to provide health coverage to every employee.
Trade off is: % Necessary 58%Not Necessary 39%
Acceptable 64%Not Acceptable 34%
Trade-off: All businesses to provide coverage.Voters agree that requiring businesses to provide
coverage is necessary and acceptable.
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Trade-off?
Raise taxes to cover the costs of providing health care to more of the uninsured population.
Trade off is: % Necessary 45%Not Necessary 52%
Acceptable 43%Not Acceptable 56%
Trade-off: Raising taxes.A majority of voters tell us it is not necessary and it is
also not acceptable to raise taxes.
Voters were read three statements they may hear from a Member of Congress about the issue of the uninsured.
They were asked to rate each statement on an imaginary thermometer from zero to one hundred degrees, where zero means they do not agree at all with the point of view being expressed and one hundred means they totally agree with the point of view being expressed.
The following slides show each of the statements voters heard.
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Action is needed now to cover more of the uninsured. To make immediate progress we have to
begin by first making sure that all children in this country have
health care coverage. To cover others without health insurance
we can work to expand government programs for the
working poor and provide more tax incentives to help individuals
and small businesses afford coverage.
A Member of Congress who says…
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Today’s health care system is broken. We are the richest nation in the world, yet forty-
five million Americans are going without health care
coverage. We need to replace the private health
care system in this country so the government pays for
and provides medical care to all Americans just like they
do in Canada.
A Member of Congress who says…
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Our first focus should be to reduce the cost of health care.
With a four hundred billion dollar federal deficit, we can not afford
major new government programs. Covering the uninsured would
require massive new federal taxes or requiring all small businesses to provide coverage, and these
are steps which will hurt the economy. Let's not create new
costly government health coverage programs, let’s lower
health care costs.
A Member of Congress who says…
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Support is strongest for a proposal that covers all children and provides tax incentives to individuals
and small businesses.
%75-100 MeanCover every child and provide tax incentives for individuals and small businesses
59% 72
Government health care like Canada 45% 56Lower costs- no new costly government programs 35% 55
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And, covering all children and providing tax incentives to individuals and small businesses edges ahead when voters are asked to choose just one of the proposals.
27%24%
31%
None of these15%
Don't Know/Refused
3%
Government health care like Canada
Lower costs- no new costly government
programs
Cover every child and tax incentives for individuals and small businesses
Voters were asked the reason they chose a specific plan proposed by a Member of Congress.
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Children are the future of the country. They have no voice/vote/option and coverage at an early age will mean better preventative care for the future;
Tax incentives are a good way to help increase the number of people covered and it means health care is being kept in the private sector - not the government’s hands; and
This approach is a manageable first step - versus raising taxes or overhauling the entire system.
Covering every child and providing more tax incentives to help individuals and small businesses afford coverage.
Voters tell us:
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Everyone in this country should have health care coverage (even if it means raising taxes);
Our system is broken, it costs too much; Doctors are over-charging and insurance companies
make decisions on the health care coverage we receive; Medicine/health care coverage should not be a
commodity; It would mean better preventative care for everyone; It would help with prescription drug costs as well as the
cost of going to the doctor; and It seems to be working in Canada.
Replacing the private health care system with government provided health care like they have in
Canada:Voters tell us:
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There are too many people who cannot afford coverage - lowering costs will mean a lot more of those people can afford it;
There needs to be regulation/cap put on how much doctors/pharmaceutical companies charge and how much can be rewarded in lawsuits against doctors;
We do not want to pay more in taxes, people would be responsible for their own health care coverage; and
We do not want more government involvement - the government will not run the system efficiently/effectively.
Lowering health care costs, not creating costly new government programs.
Voters tell us:
Voters heard eight proposals describing different ways to help increase the number of Americans with health care coverage.
Half the voters heard the proposals with language that described the estimated cost and number of Americans the plan would cover.
The other half of voters heard the proposals without the estimated costs or number of people covered.
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Voters expressed strong support for the following messages whether or not they heard the estimated
costs and number of people covered.
With Costs/ Numbers
No Costs/ Numbers
Allowing the self-employed and small businesses to band together to purchase private health insurance at lower group rates.
80% 91%Providing tax incentives for small businesses to encourage them to provide health care coverage for their employees.
74% 89%Allowing the self-employed or small businesses to purchase health insurance through the federal employee health benefit plan, which is the same plan that Members of Congress and federal employees have.
70% 87%
Total Favorable
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Support for the following messages was solid whether or not voters heard the estimated costs and number of
people covered:
With Costs/ Numbers
No Costs/ Numbers
Increasing funding for community health centers, which provide primary and preventive services for people living in communities that have limited or no medical service.
68% 89%Allowing Americans to set up tax-free health savings accounts to help them buy private health insurance, and offer a tax credit to encourage small employers to set up health savings accounts for their employees.
68% 71%
To ensure lower income children have health care coverage, lower income parents would be able to file a form with their taxes proving their children were insured. These parents would receive double the amount of their per child federal tax deduction.
69% 61%
Total Favorable
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Support was softer for the following messages regardless of whether voters heard the estimated
costs and number of people covered:
With Costs/ Numbers
No Costs/ Numbers
Providing for a limited expansion of Medicaid coverage – which currently covers only the poorest Americans – to include more lower income Americans for whom private insurance remains unaffordable.
56% 73%
Enrolling the millions of Americans who are eligible for government-funded health care programs but do not currently participate in them.
45% 63%
Total Favorable
We combined the results for the proposals with costs and the proposals without costs to give us an average score for each concept proposed.
This allowed us to look across the proposals for support among sub-groups.
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Three of the proposals scored 80% or higher among Republicans and Democrats.
Proposal GOP IND DEMAllow small businesses to band together 89% 86% 83%Tax incentives for small businesses 83% 82% 83%Allow small businesses to buy into federal health plan
80% 73% 80%
Total Favor
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The concept of covering lower income children garners 60% or higher total favor among
Republicans, Independents, and Democrats.
Proposal GOP IND DEMCover low income children 60% 68% 69%
Total Favor
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Voters are in strong agreement a compromise on addressing the issue of the uninsured is needed in Congress.
There is no easy consensus about the role of federal government in managing the health care system and whether we need to raise taxes to cover more of the uninsured.
But, doing nothing is the least appealing approach.
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A majority of voters prefer a step-by-step approach to trying to provide health care coverage.
Starting with coverage for children is a widely accepted priority.
There is also broad support for doing more to help self-employed and small businesses afford coverage, with multiple approaches finding wide acceptance.
Bill McInturff, [email protected]
Geoff Garin, President [email protected]
www.ceasefireonhealthcare.org
