Majority Of California Voters Supports Health Care Overhaul Legislation
The proposal, which was approved by the California General Assembly on Monday, would require most state residents to obtain health coverage. Under the bill, residents with incomes up to 250% of the federal poverty level would receive state subsidies for coverage, and residents with incomes up to 400% of the poverty level would receive tax credits to ensure that health care premium costs do not exceed 5.5% of their incomes. Low-income residents would be exempt from the coverage mandate if they would be required to spend more than 5% of their income on minimal coverage and do not qualify for public programs. In addition, insurers would be prohibited from denying coverage to residents because of pre-existing medical conditions and required to spend at least 85% of premiums received on medical care.
Employers would be required to spend between 1% and 6.5% of their payrolls on health insurance for workers or pay the same amount into a state insurance pool that provides subsidized coverage. The legislation does not include financing mechanisms because there is not enough Republican support for the measure to reach the two-thirds majorities required in both chambers to pass tax increases. New taxes and fees to support the overhaul would appear as a voter referendum on the November 2008 ballot. The $14 billion measure aims to cover more than 70% of the state's 6.6 million uninsured residents (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 12/18). Poll Results
The poll questioned 1,283 registered voters from Dec. 10 to Dec. 17 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points (Ainsworth, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12/21).
According to the poll, 74% of Democrats support the bill, while 52% of Republicans and 59% of independent voters support the measure (Rojas, Sacramento Bee, 12/21). At least 55% of voters in all age groups support the legislation, and at least 60% of male and female voters support the overhaul plan, as well as voters with a range of incomes (Chorneau, San Francisco Chronicle, 12/21).
Sixty-three percent of voters said they support a $2 increase to the state's tobacco tax to help finance a health care overhaul, the poll found. The governor and Núñez are considering a tax increase of $1.50 to $2 per pack (San Jose Mercury News, 12/21).
Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo said, "Majority support among every subgroup is very unique," adding, "I think there's a strong perception that something needs to be done, that the system is broken and it needs to be fixed" (San Francisco Chronicle, 12/21).
The poll also found that 23% of voters said they were strongly or somewhat opposed to the overhaul plan (San Jose Mercury News, 12/21). The most common reasons given by voters who oppose the plan were that it would expand government's role in the health care system; require certain residents to obtain coverage; and place a heavy financial burden on small businesses that cannot afford to provide coverage (Sacramento Bee, 12/21).
The Field Poll is available online (.pdf).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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