New Rasmussen poll reveals that on health care reform Americans believe failure is an option

August 15, 2:26 PMPolitical Buzz ExaminerRyan Witt

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This Gallup Poll is actually positive compared to Rasmussen's poll.

Sometimes a good idea come along before its proper time.  Americans clearly were not ready for single-payer reform under the Clinton administration in 1993-1994.  Now, it appears Americans are still not ready for reform in 2009.

I have been critical of polling on health care reform before but Rasmussen has now released a new poll that I believe has some significance.  In one of the more revealing polls Rasmussen has done it turns out a full 54% of the American population would prefer no reform over passage of the Congressional health care reform plan.  That is strong number considering the fact that people were faced with perils of continuing with our current system and yet still favored no reform at all.  If public opinion does not change I am afraid that no reform is what Americans will get.  There are multiple reasons for this poll result.

First, most Americans still have insurance.  Those that do have insurance are generally happy with the care they receive.  They may not like the costs but most of the costs are not felt directly by the insured.  Instead, most peoples' insurance premiums are paid by their employer and the average worker never sees that bill.  As a result, most do not realize that they would likely have seen a much larger wage increase had their employer not been forced to pay the tripling insurance premium costs over the last decade.  President Obama explained this phenomenon in the Montana town hall but most are still not aware that, quite simply, they are getting robbed by insurance companies and they do not even know it.

Secondly, as I have written before the reform opponents are so far winning the message war.  By now many Americans believe at least one of the myths regarding reform.  So of course many people will prefer no reform if they honestly believe reform will kill of their grandma.  When leaders like Sarah Palin tell the people that death panels are coming the 20% of the population who blindly follows Palin will undoubtedly oppose reform at all costs.

Finally, most people are under the illusion that no reform at all means they can keep their current health care.  Most fail to realize that no reform will force many of them off insurance rolls when their employer decides to stop paying increasing premiums.  Many believe that they will never be denied coverage, never have a pre-existing condition, or never go bankrupt when their benefit limit is reached.  The truth is that millions of people will face those conditions if no reform is passed yet they do not know it.  So instead, they are willing to accept a current system they believe gives them security.

Sadly, the best time for reform may not be now.  The political will still does not exist for real reform given the current conditions listed above.  In the end, it may be best for Democrats to wait another four years when millions more are uninsured and people actually start feeling insurance premium costs more directly.  Until then, the American population seems unwilling to accept reform.