'Individual Mandate' in Health Care Reform Law Still Widely Unpopular: Poll
But many wonder if politics will influence Supreme Court's ultimate decision, Harris Interactive/HealthDay survey finds
NORWALK, Conn., March 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifty percent of Americans oppose the "individual mandate" clause in the health care reform law that requires all Americans not already insured to purchase health insurance, according to a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll released today.
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Only 22 percent support the mandate.
But certain arguments in favor of the mandate seem to sway opinion back toward support of the measure. For example, 71 percent of the more than 3,000 adults polled in mid-February agreed with the notion that "for health insurance to work, it is necessary to include people who are healthy in order to help pay for those who are sick."
That seems to suggest that "while the individual mandate is still widely unpopular, indeed by far the most unpopular part of the Affordable Care Act [ACA], some arguments in favor of it are supported by most people," said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll Interactive.
The poll did find that 56 percent of Americans agree that if everyone is required to have health insurance, including healthy people, it will make the average cost of insurance less expensive. And 51 percent agreed with the idea that requiring insurance companies to provide health insurance to people with preexisting conditions will not work unless everyone is required to have insurance -- a major argument often put forward as to why the individual mandate is necessary.
However, the poll also found that many Americans disagree over the constitutionality of the mandate. Half of those surveyed felt the individual mandate was unconstitutional, while 20 percent thought it was constitutional, and 30 percent weren't sure. Among Republicans, 78 percent said the mandate was unconstitutional, compared with 31 percent of Democrats.
The constitutionality of the mandate will most likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, and, Taylor noted, "Most people do not feel that the Court is above politics."
The poll reflected that assessment: only slightly more than a third (36 percent) of those interviewed believe that the nation's highest court would be able to decide the issue in a non-political, non-partisan way. Thirty-nine percent felt that any Supreme Court decision would be colored by the justices' political leanings.
Meanwhile, the nation as a whole remains split over the Affordable Care Act, with 39 percent opposed to the reform package, 34 percent in favor and 27 percent still undecided.
The poll included 3,419 adults over age 18 who were surveyed online between Feb. 16-18, 2011, by Harris Interactive, one of the world's leading custom market research firms, and HealthDay, a leading producer and syndicator of health news.
The complete findings of the newest joint Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll are available here. HealthDay's news report is available here. Full data on the poll and its methodology are available at Harris Interactive.
About HealthDay
HealthDay, a division of Scout News LLC, is a leading producer and syndicator of evidence-based health news for consumers and physicians and is the largest syndicator of that news to Internet sites. Its consumer health news service (www.healthday.com) appears on more than 5,000 Web sites such as Yahoo!, MSN, iVillage, US News & World Report, hundreds of hospitals and hospital group Web sites, as well as print publication Web sites across the country. HealthDay also produces Physician's Briefing (www.physiciansbriefing.com), a news service for physicians, nurses and other medical professionals updated twice daily providing 15 articles a day across 32 medical specialties. HealthDay also provides custom content for major health portals. The newest addition to the HealthDay portfolio is HealthDay TV -- a 90-second news broadcast of essential health information that appears on several major media Web sites, U.S. government Web sites and other health information sites.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including health care, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in more than 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us - and our clients - stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
TABLE 1 FAVOR REPEALING OR KEEPING ALL OR MOST OF REFORM BILL "And now some questions about the health care reform bill that was passed last year. Which one of the following would you most like to see happen?" Base: All Adults |
||||||
Party |
||||||
December 2010 |
February 2011 |
Rep. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
||
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
-Repeal all or most of bill (NET) - Repeal the whole bill - Repeal most of the bill but keep some of it |
40 28 12 |
39 27 12 |
72 55 17 |
15 8 7 |
41 27 14 |
|
-Keep all or most of bill (NET) - Repeal some parts of the bill but keep most of it - Keep the bill as it is - Keep the bill as it is and add more reforms |
31 9 6 16 |
34 12 6 16 |
10 7 1 2 |
54 15 11 28 |
35 13 5 17 |
|
-Not Sure |
29 |
27 |
17 |
31 |
24 |
|
Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding. |
||||||
TABLE 2 ATTITUDES TO THE "INDIVIDUAL MANDATE" "One of the provisions in the health care reform bill is known as the 'individual mandate' that requires everyone who does not have health insurance from Medicare, Medicaid, their employer or some other source, to buy it, with a subsidy that can be made available to make it more affordable. Which of the following would you prefer to see happen? Please select one response even if none of them is your first choice." Base: All Adults |
|||||
Total |
Party |
||||
Rep. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
|||
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
-Keep the bill as it is |
22 |
6 |
36 |
26 |
|
-Eliminate the "individual mandate" that requires people to buy insurance and keep the rest of the bill |
21 |
19 |
24 |
21 |
|
-Repeal or eliminate the whole bill |
29 |
56 |
8 |
31 |
|
-Not Sure |
28 |
19 |
31 |
22 |
|
Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding. |
|||||
TABLE 3 WILL SUPREME COURT DECISION BE BASED MORE ON POLITICAL ATTITUDES OR LEGAL ISSUES "It is likely that the Supreme Court will decide whether or not the individual mandate is constitutional; that is, whether or not the Constitution allows the federal government to require that people buy health insurance. If the Supreme Court becomes involved, do you think that their decision will be based more on the political attitudes or more on the legal issues involved?" Base: All Adults |
|||||
Total |
Party |
||||
Rep. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
|||
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
-More on their political attitudes |
39 |
38 |
41 |
43 |
|
-More on the legal issues |
36 |
43 |
33 |
37 |
|
-Not Sure |
25 |
19 |
26 |
20 |
|
Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding. |
|||||
TABLE 4 IS INDIVIDUAL MANDATE CONSTITUTIONAL "What is your personal opinion on whether or not the individual mandate is constitutional? Base: All Adults |
|||||
I believe that… |
Party |
||||
Total |
Rep. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
||
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
-The individual mandate is constitutional |
20 |
8 |
32 |
21 |
|
-The individual mandate is not constitutional |
50 |
78 |
31 |
53 |
|
-Not Sure |
30 |
14 |
37 |
27 |
|
Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding. |
|||||
TABLE 5 REPEAL OR KEEP PROVISION THAT PREVENTS INSURANCE COMPANIES REFUSING TO INSURE PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS "The health care reform bill prevents insurance companies from refusing to insure people or terminating their insurance because of pre-existing conditions. Would you like this part of the bill to be repealed or to be kept?" Base: All Adults |
|||||
Total |
Party |
||||
Rep. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
|||
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
-Repeal it |
16 |
27 |
9 |
18 |
|
-Keep it |
64 |
53 |
75 |
68 |
|
-Not Sure |
19 |
20 |
16 |
14 |
|
Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding. |
|||||
TABLE 6 AGREE/DISAGREE WITH 4 POSITIVE STATEMENTS ABOUT INDIVIDUAL MANDATE "Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each of the following statements." Base: All Adults |
||||
Agree |
Disagree |
|||
- If it is constitutional for states to require people to buy car insurance or wear seat belts, it should be constitutional for the federal government to require people to buy health insurance if they don't already have it |
% |
46 |
54 |
|
- Requiring insurance companies to provide health insurance to people with pre-existing conditions will not work unless everyone is required to have insurance |
% |
51 |
49 |
|
- For health insurance to work, it is necessary to include people who are healthy in order to help pay for those who are sick |
% |
71 |
29 |
|
- If everyone is required to have health insurance, including healthy people, it will make the average cost of insurance less expensive |
% |
56 |
44 |
|
Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding. |
||||
Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States February 16 to 18, 2011 among 3,149 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
Full data available at www.harrisinteractive.com
The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
Media Contact: HealthDay, +1-203-855-1400 ext. 106
SOURCE Harris Interactive
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