Voters unhappy with health care nightmare

Some more polling data on health care to go along with yesterday's post:

WebMD Medical News

June 21, 2007 -- A new poll shows health care is the leading domestic issue on voters' minds, second only to Iraq as the most important issue in the nation.

Twenty-one percent of voters in the poll call health care the issue they'd most like to hear candidates talk about in the 2008 presidential election. The issue edges out immigration, the economy, and gas prices as voter's top domestic concerns. [...]

"We may be on the edge of our next great national debate on health reform," says Drew Altman, president of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducted the survey.[...]

Nearly four in 10 of those surveyed said they want to hear candidates talk about coverage shortages and the uninsured. Close to three in 10 said health costs were their No. 1 concern.

Not surprisingly, voters feel the insurance industry is the problem:

Lack of insurance is not the problem - it's the insurance industry itself. A Zogby/UPI poll in February found that 42 percent of Americans said their insurer had refused to pay a medical bill. A USA Today/ABC poll in March found one in four Americans had trouble paying for medical care in 2006. Two thirds of those were insured.

That helps to explain this sentiment:

CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. 5/4-06/07

"Do you think the government should provide a national health insurance program for all Americans, even if this would require higher taxes?" Yes 64%, No 35%, Unsure 2%

"Do you think the government should provide a national health insurance program for all children under the age of 18, even if this would require higher taxes?" Yes 73%, No 25%, Unsure 2% [emphasis added]

Our 2008 presidential candidates should take note of these polls. Voters aren't interested in expanding the market driven, private insurance-based system that perpetuates our present health care nightmare. National health insurance is the cure they want.