Overall Reaction to Passing the Healthcare Bill:
- 49% of adults said the passage of healthcare was a good thing, compared to 40% saying it was a bad thing. 11% had no opinion.
- As expected, a majority of the Democrats polled (79%) said the passage was a good thing, and a majority of the Republicans polled (76%) said it was a bad thing.
- Independents were deeply divided on the issue, with 46% saying it was a good thing, 45% saying it was a bad thing, and 10% holding no opinion
Emotional Reaction to Passing the Healthcare Bill:
- 50% of national adults are either enthusiastic or pleased about the bill's passage
- 42% of national adults are either disappointed or angry about the bill's passage
- 8% of national adults hold no opinion
- Democratic and Republican skews are as predicted (Democrats more pleased, Republicans more disappointed)
- The curve for Independents, however, is interesting: 10% are enthusiastic, 35% are pleased, 27% are disappointed, 20% are angry, and 9% have no opinion. Although the highest percentage are pleased, Independents are twice as likely to be angry than enthusiastic, which is interesting.
One of the most interesting observances from the second poll is that only about a third of national adults polled felt strongly about the passage of the bill (15% enthusiastic, 19% angry). Given all the national hype about healthcare and all the fierce political debate going on in Washington, you would think Americans would be more passionate about the bill.
I also found it interesting that most of those who oppose healthcare do so because of supposed rising costs of insurance (20%), the bill does not address the real problems (19%), and because they need more clarity on how the system would work (9%). The last point is completely bogus; there have been plenty of explanations out there deconstructing the bill to help the public understand its provisions, so if you don't want healthcare because you're too lazy to read an article explaining it, then I don't know what to say to you. Regarding the second point, I think this bill's a start, and a good one at that. Would you reject a helping of icing because you can't get the cake all at once? And regarding the first point...well, that's why insurance is now mandatory for everyone: to keep costs down, because now insurance companies actually have to cover people who are sick. Also, a main reason the bill was proposed in the first place was to keep costs down; insurance was not getting any cheaper, and people have been seeing their premiums rise all year.
So, what are your opinions? Where do you fit in on these Gallup polls? And why do you think the polls turned out the way they did?
7 comments:
It seems like public opinion regarding the healthcare bill is definitely warming. I feel like just a few days ago, polls showed that more people opposed the bill than supported it. In fact, this gallup poll (link: http://www.gallup.com/poll/4708/healthcare-system.aspx), which was conducted March 4-7, 2010 shows that at that time, 45% of American adults would "favor bill similar to one proposed by Obama" and 48% would "oppose bill similar to one proposed by Obama." It's pretty amazing that public opinion has shifted so rapidly. I also think it's interesting how different poll results can be regarding healthcare due to the exact question asked. This article (link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100321/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1291_2) mentioned a poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal/NBC, found that while "36 percent of respondents agreed that health care reform was a "good idea," 46 percent said that President Obama's health care plan should be passed." It seems like the polls are all over the place. It will be interesting to see where the numbers go from here.
I feel like this bill will help millions of American families, which is definitely a good thing. I agree that it's a good start and I find it ridiculous that some of the Democratic lawmakers who voted in favor of the bill are getting death threats/their property vandalized. I mean, there are other ways to counter the legislation.
From your post, it can be concluded that both parties are OBVIOUSLY divided over the issue, and I think the pulls turned out in this way because in general, Republicans are against "social programs" like these because it uses tax money that they think may not apply to everyone.
And like Sarah said, we'll see where this all goes from here on out.
*polls, not pulls.
Like Sarah said, I also believe that overall the polls shown have brought a sense that the passing of the health care bill was not a total failure amongst the public. I believe that the primary concern of Americans is that of uncertainty. I believe that Americans are just too scared to accept something at this moment that they believe will drastically alter their lives. One of the main parts of this bill is that all Americans will have to have health care and if they do not achieve it they will be penalized. Everyone who drives a car must have car insurance otherwise it would be considered illegal to drive the car. What is so different about the current situation? Actually the current situation is that even more important because the insurance would not be for a car rather it would be for a living, breathing human being.
I feel like all the negativity indicated in the polls regarding the new health care bill is that many people are afraid that the government control will go too far and the plan will begin to resemble socialism. I agree with Julia in that this is a step in the right direction, but we must remain cautious with the steps we take regarding this issue. Yes, insurance companies make way more off health care than they should, and the number of people without health care is a lot greater than it should be. But when we begin to extend our healthcare coverage, we have to make sure that our doctors and hospitals will be able to support everyone and each citizen still gets the undivided medical attention they deserve, and there won't be too much chaos with everyone trying to fight and see doctors now that they are all insured.
-Michael C.
I agree that the bill passed is a good start, but a lot more needs to be done. Requiring insurance companies to offer insurance to all, adding people to Medicaid, and subsidizing private coverage isn't enough; perhaps people could still slip through the cracks, especially if they're not on Medicaid...private coverage is still expensive. With regard to your cake/icing analogy, Julia, I'd say that this round of reform is more like the cake than the icing; it's really just the basics and more should be added.
"One of the most interesting observances from the second poll is that only about a third of national adults polled felt strongly about the passage of the bill (15% enthusiastic, 19% angry)."
I really appreciated that sentence because I think this fact that only a minority of Americans hold a strong opinion about the passage of healthcare shows that, despite the hype, most Americans were/are pretty ignorant about the actual facts, issues and proposals.
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