A poll released earlier today, by Washington Post-ABC News, found that over majority of the American Public does support a government created public option to compete with private health insurance providers. Of those individuals polled, 57 percent reported that they either strongly support or somewhat support a government created health plan to compete with private insurers. There is also a lot of opposition to the proposal, with 40 percent of those polled reporting they strongly or somewhat oppose the plan.
It appears there really is no middle ground on this issue. It is definitively one of the most debated and fought over bills that I have seen firsthand. Pundits and supports from both sides have been trying to sway the public opinion, which seems to go by party lines, whether Democrats support the bill and Republicans strongly oppose. What adds to the intensity, and unfortunately smear, are the corporate interests that have a lot at stake on this bill. Health insurance providers have been very involved. However, it looks like progress is slowly being made.
I was a little surprised with the poll results. With all the negative remarks I’ve been hearing about Obama recently, I began to feel in a minority as his supporter, despite the fact that the guy had nearly 70 million people vote for him. However, this is good news, or at least for me. I’m sure I’ve stated before that I support the health care overhaul. Not only do I think it is the government’s duty and obligation to provide adequate health care for its citizens, but a government option would give some control the population.
I don’t think most people realize that anything that is government owned is accountable to the general public. It is socialist, however, it is also democratic. The private health insurance providers do not have to answer or look out to the public. The primary concern of the executives in charge is not the well-being of the customers, but rather the profits made for the investors. The general public does not have any direct ways to influence the policies and decisions made by the men in charge within the private sector. With the government option, on the other hand, the primary concern is not the bottom line.
It might be more expensive.. but sometimes democracy is.
Link to the news article discussing the poll on Yahoo!.
