The Problem With Passing Healthcare Reform Legislation

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Yesterday's Wall Street Journal posted an article by Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen about the problems in passing the current healthcare reform legislation.  The article points out that public opposition to the bill has not significantly changed in the past four months.  Generally speaking, Democrat voters support the bill and Republican voters oppose it.  However, one of the groups consistently opposing the bill is senior citizens, who tend to vote in mid-term elections.  The polls generally show that for every person who supports the bill, there are two who oppose it.

The article points out:

"Why can't the president move the numbers? One reason may be that he keeps talking about details of the proposal while voters are looking at the issue in a broader context. Polling conducted earlier this week shows that 57% of voters believe that passage of the legislation would hurt the economy, while only 25% believe it would help. That makes sense in a nation where most voters believe that increases in government spending are bad for the economy."

Voters at this point have concluded that reducing the deficit is important.  They are becoming convinced that major spending initiatives are not a valid part of deficit reduction.  There is also the public perception of the cost of individual healthcare if the bill is passed.  Only 17 percent of people polled believe the healthcare reform bill will reduce the cost of their care.  The majority of Americans have health insurance and 76 percent are happy with their current coverage.  The perception is that if healthcare reform passes, they will have to switch to another insurance provider.  The thought of the paperwork involved in that switch is enough to cause anyone to oppose the bill!

The article concludes:

"The reason President Obama can't move the numbers and build public support is because the fundamentals are stacked against him. Most voters believe the current plan will harm the economy, cost more than projected, raise the cost of care, and lead to higher middle-class taxes.

"That's a tough sell when the economy is hurting and people want reform to lower the cost of care. It's also a tough sell for a president who won an election by promising tax cuts for 95% of all Americans."

It would be nice if after all this debate on the current healthcare reform bill, it could be scrapped and replaced by a ten or fifteen page bill that would actually bring positive changes to the healthcare insurance industry.  Unfortunately I think that will happen right after pigs fly.

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This page contains a single entry by Granny G published on March 10, 2010 1:21 PM.

Student Loans As Part Of The Healthcare Bill ??? was the previous entry in this blog.

A Public Service Announcement About The Census is the next entry in this blog.

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