Reply #15: 73% of all Americans support a public option. (NOT a co-op)

[lindisfarne]

http://npalliance.org/content/pages/Secure_Health_Care_For_All

National Physicians Alliance
Now is the time to repair our broken health care system. As part of the reform solution, the National Physicians Alliance strongly supports the creation of a public health insurance option, which is part of President Obama's Health Plan and which represents a middle road, bringing together single payer advocates and market advocates.

Facts:

1. The choice of a public health insurance plan is essential to controlling costs.
2. This choice is incredibly popular - 73% overall; 77% Democrats; 79% independents; 63% Republicans, and is a political asset.
(See http://healthcareforamericanow.org/site/content/public_rejects_insurance_industrys_misleading_claims_new_poll_shows )
3. Voters do not believe that a public health insurance option will have unfair advantages over private insurance, despite industry rhetoric.
4. The public health insurance option provides:

* A guarantee of coverage that's always there
* A strong record of controlling cost
* Gives the government an effective way to implement measures to improve value

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A different poll by Kaiser Family Foundation showed a similar pattern of results:
Kaiser Family Foundation's Tracking Poll examines public opinion about health care reform. It found that two-thirds (67%) of U.S. residents "strongly" or "somewhat" favor establishing a public health insurance option "similar to Medicare," with about 80% of Democrats, 60% of independents and 49% of Republicans in favor of such a plan.
http://www.insurancecompanyrules.org/how_secure/entry/public_supports_public_health_insurance_plan_option/

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A third poll http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/06/15/a_singular_solution_for_healthcare/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Editorial%2FOp-ed+pages
When polled, a majority of physicians as well as the public support a single-payer plan. For example, a 2007 AP-Yahoo poll asked respondents whether they agreed with this statement: "The United States should adopt a universal health insurance program in which everyone is covered under a program like Medicare that is run by the government and financed by taxpayers."

A whopping 65 percent said yes to that question. By political standards, this is a landslide. It is time for Congress to pay attention to the voters, not the well-funded lobbyists.