Rightardia finds this survey suspicious. The 'individual mandate' requires eveyone to buy medical insurance. If you drive a vehicle, you must purchase automobile insurance.
Eliminating the 'individual mandate' will drive costs up for people who purchase medical insurance and the government will have to continue to use tax dollars for Medicaid to cover the uninsured.
The GOP uses the same argument for suggesting the affluent should be able to opt out of Social Security. These 'opts outs,' of course, would weaken the entire program.
Rightardia also wonders why Americans would want limits on malpractice insurance. For example, If a loved one were to lose an arm or a leg due to malpractice, the family would have restrictions on damages.
We doubt if the average American family would want limits unless the thresholds are set high. In Texas, a malpractice law was passed that stopped almost all malpractice law suits. Health insurance costs in Texas are still some of the highest in the nation.
HOUSTON (Oct. 7, 2009)—
Survey results published this week in the journal
Health Affairs show that while
only 27 percent of adults currently support the U.S. Senate Finance Committee's proposed healthcare legislation, an amended bill could gain the majority's favor.
The poll was created and commissioned by S. Ward Casscells, M.D., vice president of external affairs and public policy and the John Edward Tyson Distinguished Professor in Cardiology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. "I feel that the slumping support for healthcare reform can be turned around and that Americans do indeed care about this healthcare debate," said Casscells.
Casscells was also a former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health under Presidents Bush and Obama. "Based on our survey results, any combination of several two-amendment changes to the current legislation would yield plurality or majority support, suggesting broad support may yet be achieved."
The survey reported that while a majority of adults—almost 60 percent—oppose the proposed bill, and another 14 percent remain undecided, Americans say they would be likely to support a healthcare bill that includes a combination of certain amendments.
"According to the data, if the draft legislation were to include amendments calling for malpractice reform, the elimination of an individual mandate and the addition of a public option, our survey shows that support strengthens—increasing from a mere 27 percent to 57 percent," Casscells said.
Zogby International conducted the online survey of 2,232 adults Sept. 28-30 and presented respondents with a detailed outline of a proposed healthcare bill and amendments based on draft legislation being debated in the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.
The survey found that legislation including both malpractice reform and a public option yielded majority support, with 55 percent of respondents supporting it and only 41 percent opposing it. The elimination of the individual mandate combined with inclusion of a public option would garner support by 51 percent of respondents, and legislation that includes malpractice reform and the elimination of the individual mandate would fall just shy of a majority with 49 percent support.
John Zogby, president and CEO of Zogby International, said, "Again the public leads the way. They are neither left nor right on health care, simply practical. Politicians take note."
See the complete article at
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.cfm?ID=1753
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