According to a new poll released last week, while the public trusts President Obama to lead on health care debate, they are divided on the provision of health care reform.
The poll found that:
- Forty-six percent of respondents said the primary goal for health care legislation should be to expand coverage while 44 percent said it should be to control costs;
- Forty percent of respondents said they thought a government-run public plan option would lower the quality of their care, 21 percent said it would improve the quality, and 36 percent said it would not change the quality of care;
- Thirty-eight percent of respondents said that the availability of government insurance would reduce their family’s spending on health care, 27 percent said it would cause their health care costs to increase, and 31 percent said it would not change their family’s health care spending; and
- Twenty-six percent of respondents trust President Obama most on health care, compared with 20 percent who said physicians and other health care practitioners, 14 percent who said congressional Democrats, 10 percent who said congressional Republicans, 9 percent who said health insurers, and 3 percent who said pharmaceutical firms. In addition, 13 percent said none of the above and 5 percent had no opinion.
