An interesting bit of data from Mark Blumenthal over at National Journal puts a cherry on top of a familiar theme: Conservatives who insist that people want government out of health care are either dishonest or in denial.
Numerous recent polls have indicated this with respect to a government run public option. Voters broadly support the idea. And Medicare enrollees have long reported high levels of satisfaction with their access to and quality of care. But here are some hard numbers.
Only 40 percent of consumers report a high level of satisfaction with their insurance. Compare that to 51 percent of Medicaid enrollees, 60 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees, and 56 percent of Medicare fee-for-service recipients. That’s a particularly interesting finding vis-Ã -vis Medicaid, which is often stigmatized as a low-quality program for the poor. Yet Medicaid recipients are, on average, happier with their care than are consumers with private insurance.
That’s an interesting factoid for those who are concerned that Congress will enact a weak–and, ultimately, stigmatized–public option. Leaving aside for a moment the moral failure of leaving about 50-million people without health care, the vast majority of people (and, notably, voters) in this country already have health care, and like it at least OK. For them, a public option along the lines of Medicaid might not sound like an appealing alternative–and that’s why Democrats are insistent that health reform legislation not force anybody currently enrolled on the private market to give up their plan. But for those who are uninsured, or those who are unhappy with the care they already have, even the weak version of the public option might well still be a step up from the status quo.
