We are already well into September, the President is back in the White House, and Congress is in session. As we are re-engaging in the heated public discourse, it’s important to know where public opinion stands today, and how it’s shifted, if at all, in the past few months. Below is a rundown of important findings on health care reform and from a pioneering survey of immigrants in the US, which were released during the summer. The focus is primarily on data, which can inform advocates’ communications, and strategy.
Overwhelming support for covering all children: new survey by Lake Research Partners for First Focus
Vast majority of Americans support ensuring that all children are covered as part of health care reform, even if it increases their taxes. By a margin of 87%-11%, nearly 8-to-1, Americans favor ensuring all children have health care coverage, including by a 68%-28% margin even if it increases their taxes. By more than a 3-to-1 ratio (78%-21%), voters believe that it is extremely/very important that “all children in America are provided health care coverage as part of health reform.”
A 3-to-1 majority (62%-21%) of Americans would oppose the elimination of CHIP if they learned that the Health Insurance Exchange “may be more costly for families and provide fewer benefits for children.” By a 54-14% margin or almost 4-to-1, Americans would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supported a health care reform plan that reduced the level of health care coverage for children in such a manner.
National telephone survey (n=1000) conducted by Lake Research Partners for First Focus; Released on 8.13.09
SUPPORT FOR HEALTH REFORM ELEMENTS
Expanding coverage for all remains popular: Support for specific proposals that would expand coverage has remained steady since December 2008 according to the monthly Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – slight percentage point fluctuations are within the margin of error. 80% support expanding state government programs, great majorities still support an individual and an employer mandate (68% back each proposal), and offering tax credits to help people buy private health insurance (80%.) A public plan option is still supported by a majority (59%) although this number dropped by 67% in April.
Non-discriminatory Coverage: A key health reform idea that draws public support and stands out in the support it gets across the political spectrum is the idea of more consumer protections and regulation of health insurance. 79% of Americans said in a July Pew Research Center poll that they favor requiring health insurance companies to cover anyone who applies, even if they have a pre-existing condition.
Policy Elements Ranking: When asked, in August 2009 by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which elements of health reform are the "most important" to them, members of the public cited expanding and subsidizing health coverage to Americans who have been unable to afford it as their top choice (32%), followed by insurance reform (24%), and strengthening prevention programs (19%). Reining in the amount of money the country spends on health care came in fourth (9%).
For a summary of general opinions toward the ongoing debate on the Hill, including approval ratings of the President’s and Congress’ handling of reform, visit ABC News’ polling director Gary Lager’sThe Numbers.
IMMIGRANT COMMITMENT TO AMERICA
Public Agenda just released a follow-up study, A Place to Call Home, to their 2002 survey of immigrants seeking to answer questions about immigrants’ outlook to America, how that has been impacted by the events of the last few years, what reform proposal they favor, and what barriers they face in their lives in America.
Confirming what experience and previous research has shown, levels of support for comprehensive immigration reform varies among different ethnic immigrant groups, who should not be assumed to be base of the movement – against, common wisdom. Still a strong majority (72%) favor a path to citizenship for “illegal” immigrants with no criminal record, and who have shown a commitment to the United States. 21% of respondents oppose this path because it would “reward people who broke the law,” echoing the familiar narrative of the anti-immigration movement. Support for immigration reform differs among country of origin and age groups as follow. In descending order, 84% of Mexicans, 81% of other Latin Americans, 62% of Middle Easterners, 54% of East Asians, and 48% of South Asians supports the policy. Among different age groups, 85% of 18–to–29 to only 56% of those 65 and older support a pathway to citizenship.
Obtaining the right to vote, and “showing commitment and pride in America” topped the reasons that immigrants considered for becoming citizens for 78% and 71% of respondents respectively (“better legal rights and protections” was also up there – 78%). These findings, although not surprising, provide for a strong argument to some concerns expressed by the general public about immigrants’ commitment to America.
Despite their own expressed personal commitment to America, some immigrant respondents to the survey do not think that recent immigrants demonstrate as strong of commitment. The study found that only 60% think that recent immigrants have the same (57%) or more (3%) respect for American laws and customs, as themselves. However these opinions vary drastically between younger and older respondents. 4 out of 5 respondents under age 30 say that recent immigrants have the same respect for American law and customs, but less respondents of age 31 and 49 think this (3 out of 5), and only 2 out of 5 of those older than 65 agree.
Recent focus group research by Lake Research Partners and The Opportunity Agenda also found that white progressive and Latino voters often assume that undocumented immigrants do not want to become Americans but “are interested mostly in coming here to work, and send much of their money to homes and families in other countries”.
Back to Public Agenda’s survey, it is worth mentioning that Muslim immigrants in America do not feel disaffection with the nation—far from it. If anything, their embrace of the United States and their expressions of patriotism are stronger than those of the other groups.
A Place to Call Home is a telephone survey (n= 1,138) of foreign-born adults who currently live in the United States and came to the United States at the age of 5 or older. Most of them were either citizens or in the process of being naturalized. The survey was sponsored the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Read more at The Opportunity Agenda website.
