Health Care in the US

I just took a quick look at the new CBS/New York Times poll which is being touted as a public opinion victory for the universal health care crowd. It shows that nearly 2/3 of the country believes that the government should guarantee health insurance for all Americans (and presumably anyone who can can fake it too). When I read the actual text of the poll and I am amazed how they played word games with the truth. Here is how the article is titled:

Poll: The Politics Of Health Care
Most Americans Favor Universal Health Care, Give Democrats Edge On Improving System

Oh really? How do you interpret "universal health care?" I think most reader would say that it is synonymous with the socialized medicine available in Europe. Universal means everyone has it and we're all on the same playing field, right? Is that what the poll actually says? Let's see:

Question #27 (from which the title gets its facts) - Do you think the federal government should guarantee health insurance for all Americans, or isn't this the responsibility of the federal government?
64% - Should Guarantee
27% - Not Responsibility

"Guaranteeing insurance" is not as definitively stated as "universal health care." The follow-up question asks those who approve of the guarantee if they stand by this opinion if their own costs go up (mandatory result of more policies with the same # of policy payers). This leaves only 49% (76% of respondents). Look at the results of the rest of the questions that deal with this issue.

Questions 31 and 32 (82% of the 60% from #31) show those same 49% would be willing "to pay $500 a year more in taxes so that all Americans have health insurance they can't lose, no matter what." Once again, without the money follow-up, the original question is just Utopianism.

Of course the question is easily misinterpreted (and I think was, in fact, in at least a few cases) to mean that for $500 more a year in taxes, all Americans would be covered by universal health insurance. Setting aside that $500 is a ridiculous number, I would be tempted to pay $500 a year for insurance instead of the $500 a MONTH that I pay for my current plan.

Question #38 shows roughly the same percentage (47%) approve of "having one health insurance program covering all Americans that would administered by the government and paid for by taxpayers."

We still have not hit the majority that is claimed in the title.

Here is the most interesting quirk of this poll. Question #37 asks "Do you think it would be fair or unfair for the government in Washington to require all Americans to participate in a national health care plan, funded by taxpayers?" 43% state that it would be fair.

Up to this point we have had about the same number of people submitting similar responses to similar questions. If you look closely and compare the percentages on questions 37 and 38 there is 4 percent of the population that want socialized medicine but recognize that it is fundamentally unfair. Weird, huh?

If we consider the follow-up questions that give answers context, we never do actually hit a majority of the American people being in favor of the universal health care touted in the title.