From The Hotline for Monday, June 22, 2009

This Time, It's Personal

Monday, June 22, 2009


The lede of this wknd's NYT story on its health care poll suggests Americans will embrace a public option and are willing to pay more for it. But the deeper you dig into their numbers, the more you see the pitfalls ahead for Dems and Pres. Obama.

-- The poll also explains why Obama is pitching his plan on prime time 6/24. He needs to engage that bully pulpit. Asked who they trusted to "make the right decisions" on the issue, Obama isn't viewed as much more trustworthy than Congress (39% to 35%). Obama's bid to sell reform as way to fix the economy isn't working so well either. Fifty-seven percent thought a public plan would either hurt or have no effect on the economy.

-- Ultimately, though, the biggest problem w/trying to reform health care is that people are much more satisfied w/their own care than with the country overall. When they're asked to pay a bit more to help balance this inequity, they traditionally have supported tax increases (in '93 it was 61%, today it's 57%). But when the possibility is raised that one's own care could be affected, well, folks are less charitable. Sixty-eight percent said they'd be concerned that a public plan would limit access to tests and treatments.

-- In health care, the personal is political. This is why change can come to health care only when Americans aren't worried that change (the bad kind) could happen to them.

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