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Polls differ greatly on the public option. AP Photo Hans Penninck
The public option in health care reform has emerged as the central point of contention for many. It is therefore not surprising that polling on the public option has therefore been frequent from varied sources. What is surprising is the wide range of results from polls even accounting for the potential bias from the polling organizations. Depending on who you consult you could believe the American public hates the public option or loves it.
A perfect example is provided by recent polling from Rasmussen and CBS on the public option. CBS puts support for the public option at 65%. Rasmussen meanwhile puts support at just 35% for the public option. Is it really possible for either organization (with decent reputations) to be off by 30% in their projections?
The answer is no. A closer look at each poll reveals two main reasons why the results differ so greatly.
First the survey sample for each poll is significantly different. Rasmussen's poll includes only "likely voters" which excludes more lower incomes individuals and Democrats who support the public option but may not vote. The CBS poll is a telephone survey of all citizens not just "likely voters" which will naturally increase the amount of people who support the public option.
While the survey population helps to explain the results an even more important factor can be found in the wording of the questions. CBS ask their audience about the public option with the following question:
"Would you favor or oppose government offering everyone a government-administered health insurance plan like Medicare that would compete with private insurance?"
Compare that question with the Rasmussen question which asks:
"Would it be a good idea to set up a government health insurance company to compete with private health insurance companies?"
The CBS poll is clearly more friendly to public option in asking about government offering a "plan" which is "like Medicare" to "compete with private insurance." The idea of a "plan" is much more acceptable than government setting up a "company" under the Rasmussen poll. In addition Medicare is a relatively popular program so setting up a "plan" like Medicare would increase support among many survey participants including seniors.
So what can we conclude from these polls? Like most things in politics the rejection or acceptance of an idea largely depends on who you ask and the wording of the question. Whether the public option is supported by a majority of Americans depends largely on whether you believe government is setting up a "plan like Medicare" or a "company."
Comments
If you think the insurance companies are going to lower their cost while having a monopoly over the process well I’ve got a bridge to sell you, and I think Wall Street should be completely unregulated too I trust strangers with my money and pollution is good and we should remove the air bags from our cars.
When industry has an iron lock grip on distribution and the markets the government is driven by the people to take corrective action, create competition and safe guard the markets.
Now is the time poll after poll is shredding the talking heads on television. Americans want a strong, robust real option to the insurance companies. The insurance companies only have themselves to blame. Decades of raping the sick and infirmed over typos and refusing to pay for health care when it is needed has created a lot of angry people out there. Refusing patients care that's what insurance companies do they collect fees for denying care, and denying service. It's fraud plain and simple.
What makes the author assume that a broader scope of polling, which includes those not likely to vote, would "naturally increase the amount of people who support the public option?" Is he starting with the assumption that most people want it, before reviewing the facts?
As for Paul Burke, who respondeed to this: What on Earth makes you trust a government monolopy over healthcare (which this "public option" is designed to create) to do right by the people while competing free market entities don't? At least the admitted for-profit insurers need my permission to get my money, unlike the government which can mandate it!
I hope you are all willing to accept that Sarah Palin may be in control of this new system (including abortion rights) by 2012!
Another Dave, as a stand up comedian I HOPE and PRAY that Palin becomes our president in 2012. That, my friend, is what they call job security.
CBS isn't watched by many on the right. It's mostly left leaning.If you ran the same polls on CBS versus Fox you would have the same problem.
Many uneducated are on the left, mainly well they don't really care, and are usualy told how to think by peer groups.
If you actually asked most of them "what will happen to the medicare funding if this came across", they would look at you with doe eyes. I would bet 3/4ths of the people reading this lame article don't know. (hint: Google it)
Ty for this story. I just wish people would look up their own info instead of taking what they read on the internetz or the boob tube as gospel.
Another Dave, i find it hard to believe you think a corporate run monopoly in the health insurance industry has it in our best interest to keep costs low and give us great service.
Also, regardless if more or less people would go for the public option his point of both polls having bias still stands. Its also not hard to see that support for the public option is probably in the middle of both polls. If you watched last years election you and i both know which the country supports more and i can guarantee you its not for more subsidies to the health industry.The GOP showed us how much they care when they were in power with MediGap-D. It look all great and came under budget till you notice all the medicaid people being forced to switch over and pay more for the same exact drugs they got on medicaid.
Poor form cherry picking a Rasmussen poll from 2 and a half months ago when there's a Rasmussen poll from less than a week ago with much better questions that deals with this topic pretty directly. And CBS? Really? Why not counter a CBS poll with a FoxNews poll? Pour journalistic effort...
Pour, poor...whatever...
Techie, it sounds like you're the sheep. If you're so smart why don't you tell us what would happen? Or at least you could provide a link to where you found this information.
It appears that you cannot read. There is no bias in the CBS poll. If anything the bias is shown in Rasmussen's poll by only including "likely voters," which considering the percentage of Americans that actually vote, is not even close to a clear snapshot of the entire country.
The trouble with "talking heads" is that some make reputable, supportable sense and others are, well..... Glenn Beck.
The bias in the Rassmussen poll is both (as previously cited) that an older one from the August astroturfed teabagging silliness was used against a current CBS poll, and also that the Rassmussen questions were leading and in fact an implied lie - that the P.O. would be a "company," implying more of the same rapacious profit motive as with the private insurance industry that's destroyed our economy and which intentionally kills hundreds of Americans per DAY for that profit, while Republicans and corrupt Dems alike (Baucus, Conrad, Lincoln, Nelson, etc.,) fight to protect its deadly status quo. Even "would it be a good idea," is a subtly leading phraseology.
The public option is one more enchroachment of the federal government on our personal liberty since it will force everyone to carry insurance or be fined by the gov't. Oh, I forgot -- we're not really sure what the plan says since to Dems won't let us see it. What a bait and switch. Buy beware!!!!
What a bunch of idiots. HR 3200 has been online and available for you clowns to read for a while now.
Can tell if you are too stupid or too ignorant to find it.
The more I listen to and read the post of MR & Mrs America I come to understand how tragicall stupid many of my fellow Americans are when it come to health insurance and the Government "public" option. It is essential that you understand the following prior to making any decision regarding this.The American people have many options when it comes to health care. There are currently 3 dozen insurence companies offering health insurence,a dozen selling catastraphic insurence and a half a dozen selling long term care. So why do most people feel they do not have many options? BECAUSE THEY DO NOT!Confused?Allow me to explain. Current law only allows people to purchase health insurence from companies opperating in their respective states,of which there are few,perhaps only 2 or 3. They cannot buy from the remaing 30 firms across the country. This is a major change proposed by the GOP but the Dems will not allow it. Why? It kills the need for the public option. HOW SWEET IT IS!
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