'Individual Mandate' in Health Care Reform Law Still Widely Unpopular: Poll

NORWALK, Conn., March 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifty percent of Americans oppose the "individual mandate" clause in the health care reform law that requires all Americans not already insured to purchase health insurance, according to a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll released today.

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Only 22 percent support the mandate.

But certain arguments in favor of the mandate seem to sway opinion back toward support of the measure. For example, 71 percent of the more than 3,000 adults polled in mid-February agreed with the notion that "for health insurance to work, it is necessary to include people who are healthy in order to help pay for those who are sick."

That seems to suggest that "while the individual mandate is still widely unpopular, indeed by far the most unpopular part of the Affordable Care Act [ACA], some arguments in favor of it are supported by most people," said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll Interactive.

The poll did find that 56 percent of Americans agree that if everyone is required to have health insurance, including healthy people, it will make the average cost of insurance less expensive.  And 51 percent agreed with the idea that requiring insurance companies to provide health insurance to people with preexisting conditions will not work unless everyone is required to have insurance -- a major argument often put forward as to why the individual mandate is necessary.

However, the poll also found that many Americans disagree over the constitutionality of the mandate.  Half of those surveyed felt the individual mandate was unconstitutional, while 20 percent thought it was constitutional, and 30 percent weren't sure. Among Republicans, 78 percent said the mandate was unconstitutional, compared with 31 percent of Democrats.

The constitutionality of the mandate will most likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, and, Taylor noted, "Most people do not feel that the Court is above politics."  

The poll reflected that assessment: only slightly more than a third (36 percent) of those interviewed believe that the nation's highest court would be able to decide the issue in a non-political, non-partisan way. Thirty-nine percent felt that any Supreme Court decision would be colored by the justices' political leanings.

Meanwhile, the nation as a whole remains split over the Affordable Care Act, with 39 percent opposed to the reform package, 34 percent in favor and 27 percent still undecided.

The poll included 3,419 adults over age 18 who were surveyed online between Feb. 16-18, 2011, by Harris Interactive, one of the world's leading custom market research firms, and HealthDay, a leading producer and syndicator of health news.

The complete findings of the newest joint Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll are available here.  HealthDay's news report is available here. Full data on the poll and its methodology are available at Harris Interactive.

About HealthDay

HealthDay, a division of Scout News LLC, is a leading producer and syndicator of evidence-based health news for consumers and physicians and is the largest syndicator of that news to Internet sites. Its consumer health news service (www.healthday.com) appears on more than 5,000 Web sites such as Yahoo!, MSN, iVillage, US News & World Report, hundreds of hospitals and hospital group Web sites, as well as print publication Web sites across the country. HealthDay also produces Physician's Briefing (www.physiciansbriefing.com), a news service for physicians, nurses and other medical professionals updated twice daily providing 15 articles a day across 32 medical specialties. HealthDay also provides custom content for major health portals. The newest addition to the HealthDay portfolio is HealthDay TV -- a 90-second news broadcast of essential health information that appears on several major media Web sites, U.S. government Web sites and other health information sites.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including health care, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in more than 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us - and our clients - stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.  

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States February 16 to 18, 2011 among 3,149 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal. 

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

Full data available at www.harrisinteractive.com

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. 

Media Contact: HealthDay, +1-203-855-1400 ext. 106

SOURCE Harris Interactive