Women on Health Care
Last week, I joined a conference call with the Independent Women’s Forum about a poll that The Polling Company conducted on women’s attitudes and the health care debate. I meant to write about this earlier, but sadly all of my free time was taken up with creating a Meghan McCain Halloween costume. (Yes, it was awesome.)
Carrie Lukas, Vice President for Policy and Economics, started off the call by stating, “we think women are missing important information about the health care system and trade offs that are involved. The press sometimes misses women’s real concerns.”
Since women make the majority of decisions regarding health care for their families, IWF commissioned KellyAnne Conway to survey only women about health care.
This random digit dial surveyed 800 women over seven nights with a proportionally represented sample of female registered voters.
The point I found most interesting was the timing. Congress and the media keep insisting that there’s a crisis! and Americans demand that health care be reformed now!
When asked when Congress and the President should enact healthcare reform,
9% hoped for action in the next few weeks; 20% wanted change by the end of the year; 22%
preferred to see reform in the next one or two years; and 43% of women say that Congress and
the President should enact healthcare reform “only when quality legislation is developed, even
if it means there is no deadline.”
• Women nationwide were presented with two differing opinions and asked to align with one,
67% of women agree with the following statement: “I would prefer that United States Senators
and Member of Congress not support poorly‐crafted or rushed healthcare legislation. It is more
important to get it done right than to get it done fast.” Only 28% align with the opposite view:
“Something is better than nothing: I would prefer to see my United States Senators and Member
of Congress support less‐than‐perfect healthcare reform. We cannot wait any longer for
healthcare reform.”
Health care was cited as top 3 issue by 53%
Health care is one of myriad of economic concerns that women cite as concerning. Big ticket items
-66% think about health care reform more for other people
-51% are currently unsatisfied with legislative proposals
-54% would not personally trade in coverage for public option or government-run health
-57% disagree that federal run program is best for family. There’s a gap between what I want for myself and what should be done for the country.
-75% want few to no changes for their own health care
-48% want slight modifications for health care generally
More details here.
Tags: Carrie Lukas, health care reform, Independent Women's Forum, KellyAnne Conway, The Polling Company
