The Reasons Have Changed for Opponents of the Health Care Plan

As the health care battle nears its conclusion, it's interesting to look back at a poll Gallup released last week that, beyond the overall for-and-against percentages, asked respondents to say in their own words the reasons for their positions.

The survey, conducted March 4-7, found a much greater shift in the reasons motivating opponents of the health care plan than it did among supporters.

Twenty percent of opponents said the plan would raise the cost of insurance and make it less affordable, up from 9 percent who said that in September 2009. Nineteen percent said the plan "does not address real problems," up from 10 percent last September.

Other reasons became less important for opponents. Last September, 17 percent said they opposed the plan because they were against big government and too much government involvement, a number that has gone down to 8 percent. Fourteen percent said previously they needed more information and clarity on how the system would work, and now 8 percent cite that as a reason.

For supporters of health care reform, the biggest shift was in the percentage of those who said the legislation was necessary because people need health insurance and too many are uninsured. That fell from 36 percent last September to 29 percent.

The next biggest change were those who cited a moral responsibility to reform the system. That rose from 6 percent last year to 12 percent.

"Over time, health care reform opponents have increasingly come to doubt whether the legislation Congress is considering will control costs and really fix the problems that plague the health care system," Gallup said. "Supporters are more hopeful that it will make insurance more affordable, but much of their support rides on their belief that all Americans should have insurance."

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