Giving People What They Want on Health Care -- Even Republicans

Keep in mind that I am notoriously skeptical about using public polling to define policy. I think it's the role of leaders and public servants to come up with ways to describe the best policy and generate support for it, not generate policy by figuring out where support is.  But the health care poll by the NY Times out today should give both those lining up to oppose the effort in Congress and those looking to compromise on the public health insurance option pause.  The simple truth is people may be wary about more government intervention in health care, but they think it’s necessary – and are willing to personally sacrifice to get there.

The paradoxical bottom line is that people believe health care needs to be overhauled, even if their own coverage is pretty good:  “While 85 percent of respondents said the health care system needed to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, 77 percent said they were very or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their own care.”  That’s both the risk and the opportunity of the current moment.  In the past, people have been afraid of losing the quality that they currently enjoy, and enemies of reform have been able to stoke those fears to turn them against universal health care.  But the fascinating thing to me is that most people seem to be convinced their own quality of care will go down – only 36% think that their own quality of care won’t go down too badly or not at all, and 32% think their access to medical tests and treatments will be limited post-reform.  Yet they’re convinced that health care reform needs to happen all the same.  Not only that, they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is – 57% would pay higher taxes, up to $500 a year.

Finally, there’s the public health insurance option – which seems to only be controversial on TV or in the halls of the Senate.  It is completely uncontroversial outside the Beltway.  The poll question verbatim is “Would you favor or oppose the government’s offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan like Medicare that would compete with private health insurers?”  72% favor it.  73% of Independents favor it.  And a shocking 50% of Republicans favor it (39% oppose it).  Speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

A poll is only a snapshot in time.  After all, we had 46 million uninsured and a more favorable economy in 2007, but only 30% trusted the government to do a better job managing health care.  In the same poll, that number is up to 50%, and you have to think the transition from one President to another has a lot to do with that number.

Put another way, people think their health care is OK, but that the system we have is so intolerable that they’re willing to pay more in taxes, accept a dip in quality, and openly welcome a “government-run” public health insurance option if it means more people were insured and costs were controlled.  That’s very bad news for the forces of the status quo…

Looks like they might need a new script.