Posted by
Always To The Right on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 2:22:51 PM
Below from and Investors Business Daily article, "What We Wish For" March 9, 2007. When people realize what's involved in "universal health care" numbers change.
And a tracking survey of the Kaiser
Family Foundation has found that since 1993, roughly two-thirds of
Americans have consistently said they support the idea.
It's
a meaningless finding, akin to asking if people support better roads,
more teachers or an end to poverty. Absent any discussion of the cost
involved in actually providing such benefits, most people are inclined
to support them. And when the surveys include such unpleasantries as
higher taxes and bigger government, support for universal care plummets.
The
ABC News poll, for example, found that support for universal care falls
below 40% 'if it means a limited choice of doctors, or waiting lists
for nonemergency treatments.' The Kaiser survey found that just 45%
would pay more in insurance premiums or taxes to help cover the
uninsured.
A 2005 Center for American Progress poll
indicated that while 64% strongly supported reforms that would provide
'affordable coverage for all Americans,' only 46% do so if it means a
bigger government role in the health care system, and just 41% want
universal coverage if it means raising taxes.
Nor is there
any agreement on a course to take to achieve universal coverage. The
Kaiser survey found that just 42% want a 'major effort' to help the
uninsured, a figure that's been fairly consistent since 1999. Half say
they want either limited or no changes. Only about a third say they
want a nationalized health system.
But
universal coverage is impossible without substantial new taxes,
mountainous federal regulations and new costs on businesses and health
care consumers. If the government wants to keep overall health spending
in check, the only tools at its disposal are price controls and
restrictions on access to care.