I hung up on an robocall healthcare poll last night

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

It started off - "Hi, we are going to ask you 3 questions about healthcare reform". They did NOT state who was conducting the poll.

Q1. Are you 1.)employed and get your healthcare through your employer or 2) unemployed or on Medicare?

I did not like that question as it did not include those who ARE employed but have no healthcare, or those who are on Cobra, or the Self employed with or without healthcare, but I played their silly game and hit 1

Q2. Are you satisfied with your healthcare?

I hung up at this point since it seemed clear to me that this particular poll was structured to have the outcome that most people who are employed and get their healthcare through their employers are satisfied.

I did not hear the 3rd question since I did not want to participate in what was clearly a push poll, but I bet you anything that the 3rd question would have been along the lines of

"Do you want to be forced off your employer provided healthcare into a government plan run by clueless bureaucrats?" or words to that effect.

[MgtPA]

1. You should have listened to the 3rd question. It asked if you would support a public option.

[Towlie]

3. How do you know that? They didn't identify themselves. It could have been a different poll.

[MgtPA]

4. Of course I can't be absolutely certain it was the same poll, but if I had to bet real money, I'd...

... say it was. I was also polled 3 days ago, robo health care opinion poll. It said up front that it would be a 3-question poll on health care, and the first 2 questions matched the OPs first 2 questions.

The OP poll's 3rd question may have been completely different, but I doubt it.

[Towlie]

11. Any special interest group could copy an ongoing poll and twist it to their own ends.

Yes, it probably was the same poll, but it's important to expect and demand that pollsters identify themselves before you answer their questions. Without that, there's potential for abuse.

[Teaser]

10. I got the same poll. It did ask if you supported a public option

seemed innocuous.

[WI_DEM]

2. The truth is a lot of people do like there health insurance thru there work place

for instance mine pays for everything with minimal premiums per pay check. But that's fine for me. I still want a public option for others or for me if I suddenly lose my insurance.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. I don't doubt or dispute that. Some people have great employer

provided healthcare that they to want to keep (as long as they stay employed).

My issue was that there are only 2 types of people according to this particular poll, those who are employed with healthcare or those who are unemployed and/or on Medicare. They did not offer #3 "other" or any of the other options I outline in my OP. Why would a poll be structured like that? Is it legitimate to not identify the group or organization doing the poll?
-

[bornskeptic]

6. Not really a poll. Just an insurance company looking for customers.

If you answer that you have coverage from work and are satisfied wih it you're not a prospect. Otherwise, they will try to sell you basic coverage, or a supplemental or Medicare Advantage plan if you are on Medicare.

[flpoljunkie]

7. Googled this up about this particular poll done by D.A.T. Research. Evidently poll very widespread.

SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2009

D.A.T. Research Conducts Invalid Survey on Health Care Reform

One of the things we students in DSU's doctoral program are supposed to learn is how to compose a valid survey. An automated phone survey paid for by "D.A.T. Research" interrupted my studying yesterday afternoon. It was about health care, so I stayed on the line. It didn't take a graduate school education to recognize that the survey will not produce valid results:

Question 1 asks about my health insurance. I get two options: (1) employer-based insurance (2) uninsured or one Medicare/Medicaid. What about the millions of people buying their own insurance on the individual market? Oops.

Question 2 asks if I'm satisfied with my current policy. So if I'm uninsured, how am I supposed to answer that? And how will the researchers distinguish between respondents who are dissatisfied with being uninsured and those who are dissatisfied with Medicare/Medicaid? Oops.

Question 3 asks (and I paraphrase) if I would prefer Congress pass a plan creating a government-run health insurance program that would compete against private companies or work with private companies to lower rates, cover the uninsured, and protect our free-market health care system. The problem with the wording should be obvious: option #1 is portrayed as simply creating competition, while option #2 is portrayed as actually producing results. Oops.

The recording was nice enough to say this survey was paid for by D.A.T. Research (which has no Googlable website at all) and even gave a callback number: 888-298-6320. I called back and got their machine, where I left a message encouraging them to clean up the survey.

But unless I hear back from D.A.T. or any of you phone owners out there saying you got a different survey, if you get mail or read Tea Party press releases a month from now citing D.A.T. Research on health care reform, feel to dismiss the results as invalid.

http://madvilletimes.blogspot.com/2009/06/dat-research-conducts-invalid-survey-on.html

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

9. They must have identified themselves at the end of the call.

Good sleuthing flpoljunkie! The blogger makes the same point that I did , that right off the bat they were very flawed. I thought option 2 in the first question was "unemployed" not "uninsured" but I definitely could be mistaken about that.

Well we will know to look at this poll very skeptically when it is released.

[flpoljunkie]

12. Wonder who is paying for this poll. It appears to be exceedingly wide spread.

[Turbineguy]

8. I hung up on that one too.

I could not answer question 1.

Maybe hanging up is the result they want. "America Does NOT Want Healthcare Reform!"