Poll: Public lacks confidence in Congressional understanding of health care reform

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The American public is divided on the issue of health care reform. Regardless as to what side of the ideological fence they sit most are not confident that Congress has a grasp on the issue.

The most recent Gallup poll on the topic finds that many American citizens while admittedly do not have a strong understand of the complexities of health care reform, they are even less confident that their leaders do. 48% of adults suggest they have a good understanding of the issue against 51% who feel they do not. By a whopping disparity only 27% think Congress has a good handle on health care as opposed to 66% who think they disagree.

Such a low percentage corresponds with just 17% of American voters who claim to have high confidence in Congress. Interestingly a deeper look into Gallup’s numbers indicate that by a 35% plurality most voters in this latest survey feel that neither they nor their politicians have a good understand of the health care reform topic.

Less than a week ago another Gallup survey indicated no clear consensus on the on the desire for health care reform. Although 71% favored some sort of new legislation, far less than half (41%) considered it high enough a priority that it needs to be passed before the end of 2009, and 29% are either unsure or don’t not want it passed at all. Using some particularly strong wording the Kaiser Family Foundation randomly sampled over 1,200 adults earlier this month. Their findings showed that while a majority of Americans (56%) want the government to “take on health care reform right now”, a growing number of people (39%) do not think our country can afford to tackle the issue.

Whereas confidence in Congress on a variety of issues - health care included - is at historic lows, the confidence Americans have in President Obama handling the issue has also slipped. According to a two-week old ABC/Washington Post poll less than 50% approve of the President’s handling of issue. His approval to disapproval split of just five percentage points (49-44%) is down from a fourteen point margin in mid-June.

Pessimism about the effectiveness of health care legislation is also conveyed in two recent polls from the previously mentioned Kaiser Family Foundation and Rasmussen Reports.

A majority of Americans (53%) think that the passing of a new health care plan either would make things worse off or keep about the same. This includes topic ranges from the quality of care, cost, choice of doctors and hospital waiting times. Only when asked the question of whether the country as a whole would be better off with health care reform do a majority (51%) of Americans think new legislation would make things better according to the Kaiser Family study.

Rasmussen who has shown particular negative numbers for Obama and the Democrats as of late actually indicates that 49% of voters are against the new reform proposals brought forth by the President and Dems in congress. This against just 47% who favor the measure. Just 23% of voters believe new legislation will lead to lower costs against 53% who say medical treatment will become less affordable.

While it seems a bipartisan effort is now underway hammering out the details of new legislation for health care reform, convincing the masses that a new program will be a better program presents a different challenge all together.