Health Care For America Now

NBC/WSJ Poll Drops “Choice” Question to Reframe Results

Washington, DC – NBC News put out a teaser today saying a new poll shows less than a majority support for a public option, but a closer look reveals NBC/WSJ changed their poll questions from June to July – eliminating a question that showed overwhelming support for the choice of a public health insurance plan.

In June 2009, the NBC/WSJ poll asked the following question: “In any health care proposal, how important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance?” 76% of respondents said it was either extremely or quite important.

The following month, the “choice” question was gone. Instead the July 2009 poll simply asked, “Would you favor or oppose creating a public health care plan administered by the federal government that would compete directly with private health insurance companies?”

“Poll after poll shows that large majorities of Americans support reform that offers a choice of a public health insurance plan or private insurance,” said Celinda Lake, President, Lake Research Partners.

“In fact Americans strongly support having that choice rather than access to only private insurance. Choice is a key value.”

For instance, a July 2009 Quinnipiac poll found 69% of voters support “giving people the option of being covered by a government health insurance plan that would compete with private plans.” A June 2009 New York Times/CBS poll found 72% of respondents favored “offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan – something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get – that would competed with private health insurance plans.”

"National polling has consistently shown strong support for a public health insurance option that provides choice and competition for Americans.  As with any complicated issue, questions about healthcare reform are sensitive to the wording of the question,” said Jeff Liszt, Partner, Anzalone Liszt Research.  “The use of different language (NBC no longer tests whether people should be given the choice of a public plan) helps explain why NBC's current results look so different from their earlier polling which showed 76% support for the public option, and so different from recent national polling by CBS/NYT and Quinnipiac, both of which show over 65% support for a public health insurance option."

“One can only wonder why the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll removed the concept of choice of a public option after 76% of Americans say they want that choice,” said Richard Kirsch, National Campaign Manager, Health Care for America Now. “By dropping what the President proposes and what the public strongly supports - giving people a choice - from their list of questions, the NBC/Wall Street Journal pollsters misrepresent reform and raise questions about their own agenda.”