Nation Split on Nationalized Health Care

Americans’ support for health reform legislation is waning in the midst of a strong push by congressional Democrats to pass new bills in the coming weeks, a new poll released July 15 said.

Only 44 percent of Americans believe the government should take a greater role in health care, according to the University of Texas/Zogby International poll. In an accompanying poll conducted on July 14, 50 percent of Americans oppose the new House health care reform bill, while only 42 percent approve.

“What this poll reveals is nothing short of the complexity of the details that are involved,” said John Zogby, president of Zogby International. “What we see…is a split right down the middle.”

Zogby and a panel of six health policy experts attended the relsease of the poll at a National Press Club Newsmakers conference. The bulk of the poll, designed by S. Ward Casscells at the University of Texas and conducted by Zogby International, was taken online from June 18 till June 22.

There were 3,862 respondents out of a pool of 60,000 offered the opportunity to take the poll. Some of the data was weighted to best represent the American population, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 percent.

While the poll showed widespread support of a mandate for change to the current health care system, there remains no consensus on what the change should be, Zogby said.

Support of specific Congressional legislative proposals—such as mandates, public options, and taxes—is trending down when compared to similar polls conducted over the last year. While 79 percent of Americans believe health care costs are hurting businesses, only 48 percent support a public health insurance plan.

Americans would prefer congress cut costs by putting health care on a diet, rather than overhaul the entire system, Casscells said.

The poll did find consensus on how Americans believe new health care programs and services should be paid for: 83 percent are in favor of eliminating fraud, 77 percent for standardizing medical forms, and 73 percent for reducing medical errors.

“There are some core values here,” Zogby said. “Americans do believe in fairness.”

The panel unanimously agreed that some form of health reform, whether it brings sweeping change or minor updates, will be passed by the end of the year. While public support of health reform remains soft, Democratic leadership is wise to press on, said Dr. Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine.

“I see this as a yellow flag of warning, but it’s a warning not to slow down,” said Fineberg. “It’s a warning to push forward.”

A graduate student at the University of Maryland,Ben Giles was an intern last summer at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.