WHAT WOMEN WANT ON HEALTH CARE
By HEATHER RICHARDSON HIGGINS
Women are seen as a key constituency of Democrats, particularly on issues like health care. But current congressional proposals not only concern women, they may actually drive women away from the party.
The Independent Women's Forum (IWF) commissioned a survey to better understand women's health-care concerns. We asked extensive questions of 800 registered voters, deliberately taking a broad sample to be representative geographically, demographically, politically and philosophically. Forty percent of respondents self-identified as Democrats, 22% as independents, and only 32% as Republicans (the rest didn't offer a party affiliation); of the 81% who voted in the last election, 58% voted for Barack Obama. That makes the results all the more fascinating.
One key finding is that most women like their own care. Three out of four (74%) rate their own health care as good or excellent, and 77% think the quality of the care they receive is equal to or better than what others receive. Particularly surprising, given the nefarious reputation of insurers, was that two-thirds (66%) thought their insurance was good or excellent, and 73% thought that they had appropriate or even high quality insurance. (No insurer paid for the poll or contributes to IWF.)
Women, it turns out, see health-care reform as being for someone other than themselves. Three out of four women either want their own health care modified only slightly (40%) or think it's better left as it is (35%); 64% would rather have private insurance than a government-run plan.
Part of this is driven by the expectation that government-run health care will create new problems. Nearly half of the women in IWF's survey (46%) worry that government-run health care will result in more doctors leaving medicine. More than half (51%) think it will cause a decline in the quality of health care. Half think their family will end up paying more for health care, and 81% expect that it will lead to increases in the taxes they have to pay. Across the spectrum 76% of respondents felt that a tax penalty for not purchasing insurance was unfair.
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5 comments:
It is a terrible plan. Congress does not want to be subject to it. Neither do American women or families. Only a mean-hearted elitist would even propose such a thing.
Yes, I heard a bit about this on Catholic radio today. I must say, I was quite surprised. I am not sure how much impact these studies have regarding attempts at legislation. Though I think they will have a fundamental impact on an election, if there is any follow through.
What would have been interesting to see is a question asking if impending legislation would affect their votes in the future. Without that, happiness seems to be a fickle thing. Still, we can hope.
If I were in the White House trying to pass this piece of crap legislation, This would be the wake up call of all wake up calls.
ENJOY DC, Teresa! "Kill the Bill, Kill the Bill, Kill the Bill." I love it.
The truth about this massive government intrusion into our lives is slowly coming out and the more that is learned about this Utopian scheme the fewer supporters it has. There is still a very good chance of defeating this bill if we all stand together. Another great post Teresa.
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