Most Americans Dismiss Scare Tactics in the Health Care Reform Debate

2 years ago

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A majority of Americans believe many of the claims about health care legislation are distortions or "scare tactics," according to a new Bloomberg poll.

Take the so-called "death panels" charge raised by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and others. The House bill calls for "advanced care planning consultations" that would reimburse doctors for talking with patients once every five years about end-of-life care. Sixty-three percent of those polled believe the "death panel" moniker is a distortion or scare tactic compared to 30 percent who said it is a legitimate criticism.

Republicans such as House Minority Leader John Boehner and anti-abortion groups have charged that reform legislation would allow taxpayer-funded abortions. Sixty-one percent dismissed that as a distortion compared to 33 percent who said it was legitimate.

Critics have warned that an overhaul would lead to health care rationing, although many supporters of reform counter that rationing, in effect, already exists because of insurance company policies and the inability to afford health care. Those polled called this charge a scare tactic, 59 percent to 35 percent.

The idea that the government would pay for health care for illegal immigrants – which prompted South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's shout of "You lie" during President Obama's speech to Congress last week -- was rejected by 58 percent of respondents, while 37 percent thought it was legitimate.

The knock on the health plan that drew the highest level of concern was the charge that reform would lead to socialized medicine, something that 43 percent said was a legitimate fear. But 52 percent called it a distortion.

Overall, the poll found 48 percent backed Obama's push for a health care overall compared to 42 percent who opposed it, with 10 percent undecided.

Obama's health care speech to Congress on Sept. 9 elicited the following response: 62 percent of those who expressed an opinion of Obama's plan answered that their views remained the same. Twenty-two percent said they were more likely to support the plan as a result of the speech, while 10 percent said they were less likely to do so.

The poll indicates that a majority of Americans are mostly pessimistic, 56 percent to 39 percent, that a health care plan will be passed in 2009. As for the economy, 54 percent to 44 percent say the government has the ability to help the it recover.

The poll of 1,004 adults ages 18 or older was conducted Sept. 10-14. It has an error margin of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Filed Under: Health Care, Polls, Poll Watch

Tagged: abortion, daily guidance, DailyGuidance, death panels, DeathPanels, health care, health care reform, HealthCare, HealthCareReform, illegal immigration, IllegalImmigration, poll, socialized medicine, SocializedMedicine

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