Majority Of California Voters Supports Health Care Overhaul Legislation

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 24 Dec 2007 - 11:00 PDT

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Sixty-four percent of California registered voters support health care legislation proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (D), according to a Field Poll released Thursday, the San Jose Mercury News reports (Zapler, San Jose Mercury News, 12/21).

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.