Friday, June 22, 2007

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.

7 comments:

enigma4ever said...

Blogger is acting up again...this will be my third time trying to leave a comment....anyways....this is a great post- every so disturbing...47 million American ATLEAST living without healht insurance- not right....
and 9 million Children...We MUST change this...I as a nurse am ashamed of the Healthcare in this country.....( I also am a member of the 47 Million Club).....

Thank you for coming by Watergate Summer...I am Back.....for good...

Larry said...

Will the elected elite in this country even realize that they are not the only ones who deserve healthcare in America?

Good post.

Anonymous said...

linked to these two good posts. better half is gone to Bali of all places so I had a drink and put up some good time stuff if your interested.

Anonymous said...

Larry, the elected elite, the ones we elected, dont give a shit if you have healthcare or not. they dont operate on your plane of "caring".

Larry said...

You have been hitting on topics close to the heart.

Healthcare is one of the most important basics of a society.

Of course not in a neocon society.

Anonymous said...

Call me a curmudgeonly old cynic, but the polls aren't going to persuade the pols to come up with a decent (in both senses of the word), universal health care system. Polls are one thing, buy lobbyists' dollars are another.

You know I'm with you on this issue, Kathy, and I think we have to keep hammering away anyway. But I'm afraid greed and self-interest have too strong a hold on this country.

Kathy said...

Enigma, you're a nurse without insurance? I had no idea that health professionals were working for employers without insurance too. That's unbelievable, and just one more reason why something needs to be done.

Larry, I think your comment about health care being important to society is supported by the polls too. It takes a cold person to deny someone help when they're suffering.

Expat, your better half went to Bali and you stayed home with a drink and your blog? Are you crazy, man? ;-)

Abi, thanks so much for the support. I agree that we have to keep hammering away, and I definitely have the tenacity to keep on going! As I heard recently in a movie (I think it was "The Desperate One"), "we have to take it, because they aren't going to give it to us." I think voting in the candidate who has the best chance of delivering is one way to accomplish that.