When polled, did Americans support a robust public option as part of HCR?

[metapunditedgy]

I can google with the best of them, but I keep hearing conflicting reports. So I'm confused.

Posting links to polls that support your answer would be appreciated.

[stray cat]

1. I think it was evenly split

[metapunditedgy]

2. Reference? n/t

[TexasObserver]

7. You think wrong. Overwhelmingly popular with the people.

[TheWraith]

31. It ranged from 40 to 60% depending on the poll and the wording.

It would be nice if everyone could be honest about that fact, and not go around rewriting history.

[metapunditedgy]

32. Can you cite those polls? Which are you referring to? n/t

[TexasObserver]

54. that's nonsense

look up the data yourself

[Swamp Rat]

41. Of course you do... and your Obama avatar fools no one.

I see you. ;)

[spanone]

a poll about a poll

[metapunditedgy]

16. Not really. n/t

[jpgray]

3. Here are a few

Through 2007. Link: http://www.medicareforall.org/pages/Chart_of_Americans_Support

Note it depends a bit on the question asked.

[TexasObserver]

9. That's the evidence.

[metapunditedgy]

14. Thanks. To be clear, some of those numbers are about *single payer*, right?

I'm officially just asking about the "robust public option," which presumably was even less controversial.

[jpgray]

23. Right. Not all the questions go into exclusivity or precise form

But you can treat this as a fair sample of voters responding well to something equivalent to or stronger than a basic public option.

[Enthusiast]

60. Looks pretty much overwhelming to me.

Of course there are those that don't want to believe it.

[Junkdrawer]

4. At the start of the debate , 69% wanted Single Payer....

And Democrats didn't even have it on the table. Hell, they arrested doctors for shouting it out during the initial hearings.

[Edweird]

8. +1 The truth.

[LWolf]

10. +2

[alsame]

13. And I think it went even higher when it was described as

a Medicare-for-all type plan rather than 'government run'.

I remember getting an email with survey results - I think it was from Democracy for America - that showed a jump in numbers when single payer was compared to Medicare.

[TheWraith]

30. What staggering bullshit.

Please produce a poll saying that 69% of people wanted single payer healthcare.

[Junkdrawer]

33. I read it here:

Informative polls show two-thirds support for single-payer
...

Table 1 indicates that public support for single-payer ranges from a low of 50 percent to a high of 69 percent. I have divided the polls of the general public into those that found support levels at 60 percent or higher (eight questions) and those that found levels in the 50-to-58 percent range (three questions).

....

http://pnhp.org/blog/2009/12/09/two-thirds-support-3/

[TheWraith]

57. It reports one poll which said 69% in freaking 1991!

Almost 20 years before we actually had the healthcare debate. And even then, it's ONE poll. They had to go back 22 years in order to find six polls with support of 60% or more.

[metapunditedgy]

58. Be clear: you're talking about SINGLE PAYER, right? Seriously, what's your point

opposing the myriad of polls that say Americans wanted serious HCR, especially a robust public option?

[metapunditedgy]

34. So I just used google. Apparently polls with low support are the ones that misrepresent the issue.

How about that?

Polls that convey more information tend to report higher levels of support than polls that convey little information, and polls that convey accurate information tend to report more support than polls that convey inaccurate information.

http://pnhp.org/blog/2009/12/09/two-thirds-support-3/

Here's some more polls.

http://www.wpasinglepayer.org/PollResults.html

I guess you can nitpick, but it's hardly "staggering bullshit."

[Enthusiast]

61. Plus one!

I believe we can attribute the "enthusiasm gap" at least in part to the public sentiments expressed in these polls.

[leftstreet]

56. +1

[TexasObserver]

5. Yes, Americans wanted a robust, competitive public option.

[Enrique]

6. let me suggest a better research method...

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=public+option+poll

[metapunditedgy]

18. Like I said, I can google myself. But I hear conflicting messages on the subject.

Either I'm misunderstanding what Google tells me, or some people are trying to re-write history, or...?

[yurbud]

42. that one google tells you why Democrats are in trouble when they could be collecting all the marbles

they shit on voters to appease the rich.

[Imajika]

11. Yes, they did favor it in polling...

...but it isn't so simple as that.

When you polled the "public option" is enjoyed commanding public approval. But, if you polled it as the "government option" (which is exactly how the Republicans would have framed the issue), it probably doesn't enjoy near the support.

The question really is, do people understand that "public option" equals "government option". If people do understand this, and it can be shown that they do, then the public option most definitely has the support of the American people.

[metapunditedgy]

19. I would hope that the whole HCR mess was not caused by the framing of one word. n/t

[Imajika]

27. That one word matters a lot...

Think "estate tax" versus "death tax". One polls well and one polls badly, but they are really the same thing.

[metapunditedgy]

28. But what difference does that make? Was HCR held hostage because nobody

wanted to explain a single word?

[alsame]

12. Yes. Some links here:

In Poll, Wide Support for Government-Run Health

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/health/policy/21poll.html


Public option gains support
CLEAR MAJORITY NOW BACKS PLAN

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101902451.html


Most in U.S. want public health option: poll

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B20OL20091203

[SlimJimmy]

15. June 2009, Oct 2009, Dec 2009. What do the polls say now

about support for HCR?

[TexasObserver]

20. HCR doesn't have it, and that's one reason it is not popular.

Many wanted real reform, not merely legislation to help the robber barons who run the health care and health insurance industries.

[SlimJimmy]

37. I understand that, but what about current polls

that ask about the single payer or public option. Is the support for these two reforms still at 50 percent or better? All I see in this thread are year old polls.

[metapunditedgy]

21. Can you tell us, and tell us how you interpret those polls? n/t

[SlimJimmy]

35. They're worthless since they were conducted a year

or more ago. I was hoping they would cite current polls.

[metapunditedgy]

43. Are you serious? What are you suggesting? n/t

[SlimJimmy]

47. I'm suggesting that they're worthless now if we want to know about current

thoughts on the subject. I haven't seen any current data on the public option or single payer options.

[Cal Carpenter]

44. There was a recent poll

asking if people wanted the HCR act repealed (as some repubs are arguing) and the majority said no, in fact they wanted it strengthened.

I don't have time to dredge up a link but it was posted on DU.

[alsame]

22. That wasn't the OP's question. nt

[SlimJimmy]

36. And? What does that have to do with year old polling data?

[alsame]

39. The OP was asking if people DID support the public option prior to

the final legislation. So the polls I linked to addressed that question and were taken during the time that it was being debated in Congress and the public was being surveyed about the public option and single payer.

The data are a year old because that's the time period the OP asked about. You seem to be interested in attitudes toward the public option now - you may be able to find recent data about it, but I'm not sure it's being polled anymore.

[SlimJimmy]

46. Well, that's all I really needed to know. Thanks for the response.

I think way too many folks get their panties in a wad around here when someone questions something. I've always questioned the prevailing thoughts on many subjects, but especially when it comes to politics.

[alsame]

48. You're welcome. And if you happen to find any data about current

feelings about the public option, please post them. I'm sure a lot of people would be interested.

[Unvanguard]

17. Of course they did. n/t

[Aramchek]

24. why cling to what could have been? how can you move forward when you can't let go?

[eridani]

59. Forward = the whole shebang going down because of no cost controls n/t

[metapunditedgy]

62. Forward = no one wants to campaign on this "great reform" that fell far to the right

of what the large majority of Americans wanted.

[subterranean]

25. As I recall, most polls showed a majority supported HCR with the public option

After the public option was killed by a small minority of Senators, public support for HCR dropped under 50 percent.

[metapunditedgy]

26. Why would someone unrec a question about the truth of the polls? Who is afraid of the truth? n/t

[Junkdrawer]

29. Because it reminds people of how a mandate for serious change....

was exchanged for a industry-lopsided compromise.

[alsame]

45. But, hey, we got a new logo instead! nt

[bigwillq]

50. Why would anyone care if a thread

got a rec or an unrec on a message board? :shrug:

[metapunditedgy]

51. Why would anyone care if someone cares if a thread

got a rec or an unrec on a message board? :shrug:

[bigwillq]

52. My point (and I do have one!)

:P
is not to take the rec or unrec system too seriously on a message board. It's just a silly function on a message board that doesn't really mean much.

[derby378]

38. No public option, no HCR

And right now, we don't have either. We just have the likes of UnitedHealthcare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield sharpening their knives while telling the American people, "You are all our bitches now."

[area51]

65. +1

Each day, 273 people die due to lack of health care in the U.S.; that's 100,000 deaths per year.

We need single-payer health care, not a welfare bailout for the serial-killer insurance agencies.

We don't need the GingrichCare of mandated, unregulated, for-profit insurance that is still too expensive, only pays parts of medical bills, denies claims, bankrupts and kills people. Republinazi '93 plan:

"Subtitle F: Universal Coverage - Requires each citizen or lawful permanent resident to be covered under a qualified health plan or equivalent health care program by January 1, 2005."

"We will never have real reform until people's health stops being treated as a financial opportunity for corporations."

[yurbud]

40. democracy took a backseat to welfare for the already wealthy

[Overseas]

49. K&R!! /nt

[Canuckistanian]

53. You're asking for opinions on facts?

You should be asking for better interpretation of the polls, not subjective opinions own what people remember.

[metapunditedgy]

55. I'm asking what the objective truth *was*. That's why I'm asking people to cite polls.

Seems like when the polls are actually cited, they show pretty strong support for a robust public option.

I'm trying to figure out where the talk comes from that it was not popular. I remember seeing some Fox News poll, but surely nobody took that seriously?

[bvar22]

63. Here is a very significant poll.

It is significant because this is the EXIT Poll where Massachusetts Voters just gave Ted Kennedy's Senate Seat to a Republican.

* Would you favor or oppose the national government offering everyone the choice of a government administered health insurance plan — something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get — that would compete with private health insurance plans?

Favor 82%

Oppose 14%

Not Sure 4%
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010010320/poll-shouts-message-massachusetts-voters-were-sending

"When given the choice between a Republican, and a Democrat who acts like a Republican, the voters will choose the Republican every time." ---Harry Truman

QED Massachusetts

[metapunditedgy]

64. You're right... there's a lot of important implications to that poll. The link you cited

sums it up pretty well, too:

"The bottom line: It ain't that complicated. A progressive populist message on kitchen-table domestic issues is a winning message, even in a time when voters are wary of government and concerned about deficits."

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010010320/poll-shouts-message-massachusetts-voters-were-sending


It's infuriating that the progressives get marginalized when their issues are so popular in the polls.

[metapunditedgy]

66. Ok, folks. I still haven't seen cites to polls that show Americans did NOT want

a robust PO as part of HCR. Any out there?

[dflprincess]

67. What Americans wanted was irrelevant

they aren't writing the big campaign checks or offering any lucrative lobbying jobs to retired members of Congress.

BTW a recent poll indicated a majority of people don't like the insurance bill because it is just that - an insurance bill. People wanted a system that gave them access to care, not more of the same.