The Morning Consult, June 11, 2013
This bipartisan poll included a national sample of 1,000 likely voters and was conducted May 22 to May 26, 2013 by Republican pollster John McLaughlin of McLaughlin & Associates and Democratic pollster Margie Omero of Momentum Analysis.
Q6: In general, do you view health care as a right guaranteed to all citizens or is it something that citizens should be primarily responsible for providing for themselves?
44% – Guaranteed right
47% – Citizens responsibility
9% – DK/Refused
Q8: In your own personal opinion, which of the following do you see as the biggest problem facing health care today?
58% – Too expensive
11% – Too many uninsured
17% – Not worth the price
5% – Accessing quality doctors
9% – DK/Refused
Q10: And who do you believe is most responsible for the cost of health care coverage?
44% – Insurance companies
10% – Hospitals
4% – Doctors
12% – Drug companies
1% – Medical device companies
9% – Individuals
19% – DK/Refused
Q40: Currently, health care benefits provided by an employer are tax-free for both employers and employees. On the other hand, health insurance benefits are not tax-free for people who either buy insurance themselves or do not receive benefits from their employers. Knowing this, do you favor or oppose changing the law so health insurance benefits provided by employers are taxed?
9% – Strongly favor
15% – Somewhat favor
20% – Somewhat oppose
43% – Strongly oppose
13% – Neither
http://themorningconsult.com/summary-memo-on-national-poll-findings-of-public-opinion-on-u-s-healthcare-system/
Comment:
By Don McCanne, M.D.
Three-fourths of likely voters believe that the biggest problem in health care today is that it is too expensive or not worth the price. When allowed to select only one option as to who is responsible for the costs, close to half blame the insurance companies, with far less blame placed on others. It seems like the voters would want something done about costs, but there is no voters’ revolt in sight. Maybe we have a problem with framing.
Although most outspoken supporters of a truly universal health program claim that health care should be a right, just as many believe that it should be an individual responsibility. The social justice argument is not going to sway those who have views opposed. Shoving a “Health Care Is a Right” placard in their faces only turns them off even more. Framing health care as a right is too polarizing.
Regarding employer-sponsored health plans, only about one-fourth favor ending the income tax exemption of the benefits, whereas about two-thirds would oppose taxing these benefits. Just as with their views on high health care costs, voters are also concerned about preserving an existing government tax policy that helps give limited relief of their costs – their own personal costs, that is.
When individuals have to buy their own insurance, they are very concerned about unaffordable premiums, and they blame the insurers for that. When they access health care, they are concerned about high out-of-pocket expenses, especially the deductibles. Even when they receive insurance through work, many realize that this insurance was paid for by forgoing wage increases. The high costs of health care are a personal matter for them, and they want relief.
Rather than talking about abstract health care rights, we should be framing the problem as an intolerable personal financial burden – one that is perpetuated through our reliance on expensive but ineffective private insurance plans. We need to explain that they can get relief from this burden on two fronts: 1) Free access to health care by curtailing out-of-pocket expenses, and 2) Replacing unaffordable premiums with equitable public funding.
The first point was covered yesterday with the brief from EPI titled, “Increased health care cost sharing works as intended – It burdens patients who need care the most.” We can get rid of this burden. People need to understand that many other nations provide care that is free at the time of service – no deductibles, no copays. That’s what they want to hear, though for those who are dubious that this is possible, we can explain that we can do this by replacing the private insurers with an efficient Medicare-like program.
For the second point, we can explain that, under an equitable tax system, individuals pay no more than they can afford, based on their income, and for most individuals that would be less than they are currently paying in both direct and hidden costs of health care.
So the framing needs to appeal to the individuals’ concerns about their personal high health care costs: Are you spending too much out-of-pocket for your health care and for your insurance? Would like like to be able to get rid of your private insurance and have health care free at the time you need it? We can do this if we make some modest improvements in Medicare and then provide it for everyone, paying for it through fair taxes.
You can work on the rhetoric. Just be sure that they hear that they will not have their health care threatened simply because they cannot afford to pay for it. Some may feel that it is their right, and some may not. But they all want to hear that in the future they finally can have relief from their own personal financial burdens of health care.