By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-10-19 16:06:34 | Word Count: 796
Most Virginians don't like key aspects of the Democrats' health care reform proposals and believe they will lead to higher taxes and rationing of health care, according to a new poll.
When asked about President Barack Obama's proposal to overhaul health care, 49 percent of likely voters said they oppose it, 39 percent support it and 12 percent are undecided, according to a telephone survey of 625 likely voters.
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When asked about two specific elements of health care overhaul legislation - creating a government insurance plan and requiring everyone to have insurance - most of those polled were not supportive.
Fifty-seven percent opposed a government-run plan, compared with 30 percent who favored it. Forty-eight percent opposed requiring everyone to have insurance, while 39 percent said insurance should be mandatory.
Most of those polled also said they believe that health care reform will result in the rationing of health care and will lead to major cuts in Medicare programs.
Predictably, the strongest opposition came from people who identified themselves as Republicans, said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., which conducted the poll Oct. 6-8. However, most self-described independents also said they didn't like the public option or mandatory insurance and agreed with concerns about rationing and Medicare cuts.
"They are the swing voters, the bellwethers," who can sway elections, Coker said.
The most universal concern of all those polled was the eventual cost to them. Eight of every 10 people polled said they expect that a health care reform plan of close to $1 trillion over 10 years will mean tax increases.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Obama has pushed for a health care plan that would include a public option to compete with private insurers but has said he is open to other suggestions if they can drive down health care costs. He estimates his proposal, which would require everyone to have health insurance, would cost about $900 billion over 10 years. He also wants to make it illegal for insurers to deny coverage to anyone for a pre-existing medical condition or to drop people because they become sick.
While the president outlined his vision most recently in a speech last month, the issue is being considered in a series of bills being debated in the House and Senate.
Last week's poll found that Obama tends to have the strongest support for his proposal in Northern Virginia, and a majority of those in other regions of the state oppose his efforts.
Age also played a factor. Support for Obama was strongest among 18- to 34-year-olds, with 47 percent supporting his plan and 41 percent opposing it. But his support dropped steadily with each subsequent age group. Fewer than one of every three people 65 and older favored Obama's proposal.
Members of Congress from Hampton Roads weren't surprised by the results.
U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, who has been a strong critic of the Democrats' health care overhaul proposals, said the poll affirms what he already knows.
"Anyone who has studied this across the spectrum, they realize just how terrible this health care proposal really is," he said. Forbes, R-4th District, said he has surveyed thousands of medical professionals in his district who say the Democrats' proposals for mandatory insurance would swamp the medical system and lead to rationing care.
Forbes said he wants health care changes made more slowly because the system is "so vast and complex that nobody can predict the ramifications" of a major overhaul.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott said that while people might not like some aspects of reform, drastic changes have to be made because the current health care system can no longer sustain itself. Scott, D-3rd District, supports setting up a government health care insurance plan that would compete with private insurers to drive down prices.
"You cannot do that unless you have mandatory coverage," he said, acknowledging that not everyone will like such changes.
"This should not be a game show with an applause meter," he said. "To fix this you are going to have to make unpopular choices."
