Government and Healthcare: A Seismic Shift in Public Opinion
A new Gallup poll released today shows that a small majority of Americans (51 percent) say it is not the government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health coverage. The survey shows 47 percent saying that government does indeed bear that responsibility.
Ordinarily, a margin this close wouldn’t warrant a tremendous amount of public attention. What makes this survey noteworthy, though, is how significantly these results vary from public opinion measured over the past decade.
This is the first time since Gallup began asking this question in 2001 that a majority of the public said that they don’t believe the responsibility for insurance coverage for all rests with the government. In previous years, the margin hasn’t even been close – but in the opposite direction.
Just three years ago, in 2007, 69 percent of Americans said it was government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans had health coverage, compared to just 28 percent that disagreed. In fact, the margin separating “yes” from “no” responses on this question has never been closer than 13 points, until now.
Why this profound shift in public opinion? I think there are a number of reasons. I believe the public has concerns about government encroaching into more private sector industries, as it has in banking and automobile manufacturing. I believe a growing number of Americans are concerned about government spending, rising deficits and what it means for future generations. And, I don’t think there is any doubt that the highly visible and acrimonious debate over the government plan option has prompted people to give more thought to the appropriate role for government in healthcare.
These results are consistent with recent Rasmussen polling showing that a majority of the public believes the current health reform proposals in Congress will raise their health costs while reducing their quality of care.
These Gallup results should be an eye-opener for lawmakers as they move forward on health reform.
