Health Care Reform Public Approval Ratings

As the health care reform dialogue (or lack of such) is renewed, news media tell us that President Obama has lower approval ratings from the American people. Health care reform also has lower approval ratings from the American people, and Congress isn't doing too hot either.

Amid all of this health care reform confusion, and the ongoing tension between President Obama and Republicans in Congress, here's a different sort of poll that would be interesting: What sort of approval ratings do the American people give the American people for the public opinions we are expressing toward health care reform? How do we rate ourselves collectively?

Maybe we deserve some "D" and "F" health care reform grades in our own right, rather than constantly ripping on President Obama and Congress. Is it really as though they're so dumb, and we're so smart? Consider a trio of key areas: (1) Our collective level of comprehension of what's really involved in health care reform. (2) Our effort to invest some time in research and fact-finding, in order to better comprehend. (3) Our compassion for those who are less fortunate.

-- Level of comprehension. Virtually every other so-called modern country provides health care coverage for all. One reason for our health care reform debate is that in the United States, out of 304 million people, we fail to cover 45 million. Or, if we want to pretend that 12 million border-crossing immigrants simply don't exist, we can reduce the number to 33 million. But when we look at these other nations that spend at little as half the ratio through Gross Domestic Product or administrative overhead, some of us belittle these nations as engaging in "socialized medicine." (As though Medicare isn't socialized medicine.)

-- Effort to comprehend. How many Americans nowadays, on both sides of health care reform, consider themselves "experts" while investing so little time for research? Or, how many Americans nowadays simply exercise options through the diffused modern media to simply listen to others with whom they agree? Modern media can be blamed, to an extent, by conducting so many health care reform public opinion polls in so many contexts that anybody can find polling results that support his or her viewpoints. Still, citizens hold responsibility to educate themselves. Consider this particular poll result: When Vanity Fair/CBS asked a representative sampling of folks if they could explain the concept of the public option, two-thirds answered that they could not.

-- Compassion. D. Brad Wright, a doctoral candidate in the department of health policy and management at the University of North Carolina, at huffingtonpost.com offers health care reform demographics that are not disputed. People most in favor of health care reform are in the sub-$25,000 income group. Some of the most virulent opposition comes from the $25,000-to-$50,000 demographic, because these are the people who feel they are on the precipice. A majority of families with incomes between $50,000 to $200,000 also have become opposed during the past 12 months. Upper income and wealthy people are less inclined to feel threatened by health care reform, because they feel more secure. Self-interest is prevailing.

This portrayal does not aim to be all-in-all negative. Many of the same Americans who want to block health care reform will be the first to contribute, for example, if the local newspaper or TV news tells the story of a leukemia victim in need of funds for a bone marrow transplant. When we look at the humongous health care system rather than the personal examples, this seems to be when our compassion erodes.

It's as though the abundance of modern media winds up confusing us, rather than educating us. So, how about going back to some basics? Nobody denies that United States has tens of millions of people who lack health care coverage. Some get help from clinics or emergency rooms. But on the bottom line, shouldn't the rest of us do more to reach out to them?

If we start by comprehending that to do nothing is not really an option for a supposedly compassionate nation, then maybe we can finally start to get someplace on health care reform.

SOURCES

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/d-brad-wright/who-supports-health-care_b_474485.html

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010/02/letters-increasing-premiums-show-need-for-health-care-reform.html?csp=34

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/feb/23/jon-kyl/polls-show-public-dubious-current-health-care-prop/

The Healing of America, by T.R. Reid