uh, or maybe they don't think it's necessary to "blow up" the system in order to reform it and cover the uninsured. Keep the current system with a public option. I don't think that's blowing anything up.

To finish Allan Snyder's thought, that's exactly what President Obama has proposed. If you like what you have currently you can keep it. If you don't, you can get the public option. That ain't blowing anything up, it's augmenting.

"...At the same time, more than eight out of 10 people are satisfied with their own health care and nearly three out of four are happy with their own insurance..."

This is especially ironic considering my husband is waiting to hear how much our dental insurance will cover a procedure he had today, after they informed the dentist office they were suddenly vacillating less than 24 hours before the long scheduled appointment. I don't believe this poll. So who did they survey, people who are satisfied with the status quo? "Of the people who are happy with their insurance and healthcare, the polling indicates..."

I really don't understand the CNN poll. Most are happy with their current insurance plan? Huh? Everyone I know is unhappy with their plan and those who pay for their plan or co pay with their employers are freaked out by rising premiums. What I also don't understand is all the surprise/angst over the health care reform Obama is pushing. After all, health care reform was a major plank in Obama's campaign. This process is making me tired and its just begun. UGH!

8 out of 10 are HAPPY? They think $10/$12,000 a year is a GOOD DEAL? I suppose that means they are being re-imbursed more than a thousand dollars a month for their health expenses. Talk about sick-os. . .

And then there's that "poll". I wonder what the response would be to THIS follow up question:

Do you favor or oppose the REPUBLICAN plan? ? ?

I'm frankly surprised that the 50% figure is as high as it is. Yes, people have complaints and frustrations with their current plans, but few enough have been more than annoyed -- that is, REALLY screwed by their insurers -- to disrupt their essential sense that they're "covered."

And when it comes to that kind of essential security, people are small-c conservative: better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

The REAL problems with our current healthcare system -- the gigantic inefficiencies (2x average per-person national expenditure, 30% overhead in private plans vs. 3% in government-run ones, huge extra administrative costs for doctors' offices), the unaffordability of FUTURE scenarios, and the lack of coverage for 40-plus million people -- just aren't very visible to the average insured citizen today.

Proponents need to do a better selling job. The problems need to be made more evident.

A more favorable poll than the dire Q-poll. That one suggests that reform is not even that popular among younger voters. I think Q oversampled Republicans slightly, but it's not good news. There's just not a lot of enthusiasm for major change when people are satisfied with their own insurance, even if they rally don't like insurance companies.

Obama needs embrace a specific plan and sell it. Whether it closes the enthusiam gap, that's problematic. I think the Bush-lite on terrorism, inaction on DADT, the bailouts, a bad stimulus bill, trial balloons on taxes are all coming home to roost and are dampening Democratic enthusiam.

Since we can't seem to get our fellow citizens to give a damn about 47 million uninsured and countless other underinsured, maybe we should be emphasizing these points for the "it can't happen to me" crowd:

-Premiums are rising exponentially. That's not going to stop.
-You can be turned down for a preexisting condition. That means that if you or your spouse loses a job, you may find yourself in a world of trouble.
-Your insurance company can and will drop your coverage when you get seriously sick. Yeah, they do do that. All the time. Do you have the means to fight it in court?
- More than half of all bankruptcies are medically related. That includes people with insurance.
- If you find yourself uninsured and uninsurable, and you think you can go "to the emergency room" for "free care," wake up. That care ain't free -- it costs a) a lot more than going to the doctor would cost and b) a lot more than the ER will charge someone with insurance. And you're not going to get long-term or preventive treatment, either, so you better limit your injury or illness to a broken bone, a case of the flu, or some other simple one-time deal...not kidney failure, diabetes, cancer, etc. If you've got those, you're out of luck until you need an amputation, drugs for a comfortable death, etc.

I was telling a friend this morning that this reminds me of what commonly happens to women who know another woman who has been raped. Even the most openminded and empathetic women start telling themselves what they would have done differently so it wouldn't have happened to them: not walked down that street, not gone out with that guy, not had so much to drink.

It's a desperate attempt to create a false sense of safety: it can't happen to me if I do the right things. That's exactly what's happening in this healthcare "debate" -- way too many people are telling themselves that if they work hard to provide for their families, they won't end up in dire medical and financial straits. But it's a hideously non-existent security.

"more than eight out of 10 people are satisfied with their own health care and nearly three out of four are happy with their own insurance"

Who are these people? I can tell you quite honestly, there isn't one person where I work who is satisfied with our insurance. WE keep hearing about the uninsured, but the biggest problem is all of the who do have insurance that are in terror of needing to use it. A couple years ago I dropped a weight on my foot at the gym. My foot swelled up enormously and they told me I better get to the emergancy room. Needless to say, the bills started rolling in. I called Humana and questioned it. I had never made a claim before. I was told "We've already spent alot of money on you."

The problem is companies are straining under the weight of providing healthcare. Employee's contributions are skyrocketing, and still insured people are going bust if they get sick. THAT"S the major problem.

Unfortunately, the pollsters aren't in a position to see the kind of insurance each respondent has - chances are the plans are inadequate for catastrophic care, or the insurance company has a high rate of canceling policies on people who cost them too much money, etc.

I write this because, were the respondents completely sure of what they truly have (and what they'll truly get) from their insurance, the numbers of "satisfied" would drop greatly.

People are scared of change, even necessary change. Thus people recognize how necessary it is for there to be change, even when they don't want to be the ones to have to change. Tale as old as time, just like NIMBY, and cries of "improve our schools/roads/police departments/fire departments" immediately followed by "don't raise our taxes!"

Well, I'm not happy with what I have which, currently, is Anthem Blue Cross. And that's a part of my unhappiness. I'm insured at the U, where my husband used to work (he's on Medicare now) and lucky to have it. But it's "take it or leave it" and it changes every year or so, and with every change there are different things which are covered and which are not. So it's a pain in the butt right there, even before factoring in the constant climb of premiums and co-pays. But I don't *really* know where Obama and the Congress are standing right now. Are they going to insist on a *strong, comprehensive* public option (which to my mind, is the minimum, since single payer is not even mentioned, except as a possible, and losing, House vote after the recess)? Will that public option be available to me, even though I have private insurance which I can afford (so far, anyway)? Would make fighting easier, if I knew what I was fighting for...

Slightly OT (but only *slightly*): Got an e-mail from Obama today, urging me to get involved, push back against the lies, etc. And, for the first time that I remember, he's calling it what it is: health *insurance* reform; not health *care* reform. As in:
Please commit now to taking at least one action in your community this month to build support for health insurance reform

Me, I like that; it's honest, it's more related to what they're trying to accomplish. But I also prefer to call a "spade" a "spade" rather than a "digging implement". Which, I'm told, is another unladylike trait of mine, which prevents my full assimilation into Virginia.

I would love to see a poll of people who have had major illnesses to determine what their opinions are of their health care and their providers. I think the results would be interesting. I think the majority are satisfied because they don't use it much, but I think the story would be different if you've gone through an experience like that.

Most are happy with their current insurance plan?

being satisfied with the coverage you have now doesn't equate to being satisfied with the system. if i have great coverage now and you ask me if i'm happy with it of course i'll say yes. it's a rather simplistic question, and it doesn't mean im oblivious to systematic problems, the limited choice of doctors i have, rising out of pocket costs, the threat posed to the economy, the millions without coverage, the lack of portability, the very real possibility of losing coverage -- or being wiped out financially by a major health problem.

That 8 out of 10 number continually confounds me. Till I stop and think - well, probably only about 20% of people with health insurance REALLY use it. Maybe the pollsters should first ask, have you ever had a major medical claim? Then ask if the respondent is happy with how health insurance handled it.

Another flaw in the poll - some of us are fairly happy with our health insurance, as it stands, but terrified of losing it, either because of a job change, a family crisis, or a medical problem that leads the insurer to rescind coverage. The question doesn't get at that fundamental insecurity.

To begin with that eight out of ten are by definition those who still have insurance, not those who have dumped or denied coverage. Furthermore, how many of them are insured through Medicare, Medicaid or the VA, not realizing that they are government programs? I saw somewhere a poll putting satisfaction with Medicare/Medicaid at slightly over 50% and satisfaction with private insurance at a bit over 40%.

I took my kids for eye exams today. Nothing big, simple stuff. I waited and worked in the waiting room. The ENTIRE 1. 5 hrs I was there, at least 1 of the 3 staff were dealing with the "efficient" private health insurance plans. "We have to check if you plan covers exams - they cover glasses, but not the exam"; "What coverage do you have - your copay is X, but .." And one person was on the phone for 45 mins. dealing with ONE claim, that sounded like it was rejected, or paperwork was lost - or something. 45 mins, ONE person's claim. I estimate 2+ person hours consumed in insurance issues, claims, etc. NO HEALTH CARE WAS doen during these 2 person hrs.

So.... I wonder why if you really watch and listen, people think we need reform ?

"At the same time, more than eight out of 10 people are satisfied with their own health care and nearly three out of four are happy with their own insurance."

Reading this sentence, it seems to imply that nobody without health insurance was asked. And I find it difficult to believe that 3 of 4 people are "happy" with their own insurance. In the last 20 years I cannot recall having an insurance plan that anyone would be "happy" with, unless they are "happy" paying huge premiums and still paying for many procedures.

"Hasn't found hardly any"? What, were you brought up in a barn?

Isn't the larger issue not whether people are happy with their insurance, but that the industry as it is is crippling our economy in the long run? Perhaps the liberal sentiment is to ensure everyone's covered, but the conservative viewpoint - that they 'claim' is all about the economy and fiscal security - should be focused on the trainwreck our current healthcare is heading for.

"...nearly three out of four are happy with their own insurance [company]."

Now I get it, they are saying they only asked the OWNERS of insurance companies if they were happy. That makes a lot more sense.

NO GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTH CARE..They MUST STOP Spending before China owns us. There are a lot of things they could do to drive down the cost of our own personal insurance,,,,which is what we actually need.
CLOSE THE BORDER --- With over a million illegals (probably more like 3 million) coming across into USA every year, sucking our resources dry---How can we possibly get a handle on it. BUT THEY WON'T, and believe it or not--it has to do with Unions, and Votes.
NO Public Option ---This will be their ultimate vehicle for owning it soon. What employer is going to continue paying for their employees Health Care Benefits, when the Government is offering CHEAPO DELUXE options???
AMERICA--Please start thinking deeper--for America's sake

And please DO NOT FORGET that many in the 45% oppose "Obama's" plan because it does not go far enough.

We want single payer, pure and simple. We don't want to reform health insurance companies, we want them OUT of health care altogether.

Jodee, please start thinking, for America's sake!

Jodee, you *really* need to see the Bill Moyers interview with ex Cigna executive Wendell Potter. It's obscene. The main group "sucking our resources dry" are the wealthy top couple of percent. They made their fortunes off the uninsured or underinsured backs of American employees, and it's time they bellied up to the bar and gave something back for a change.
I'd rather have just about *anyone* making healthcare decisions OTHER than insurance company executives.

cnn,``

Where is your poll? Are you posting this on your site or are you calling individuals? I found it very diffcult to believe your polls. 83% of american are happy with their coverage, this is such a joke and it is a lie. If you are lucky enough to have a job every year your benefits are changed. If you are one of the millions that have lost their jobs then we all know that you lose your insurance coverage. You are suppose to be the network that we can trust and believe in. I no longer believe in you. Please be honest and up front with the American People. Lou Dobbs should be working for the Fox News.

Just a thought, but just what is covered by "satisfied"?
I'm not dead. I'm not bankrupt (yet). I'm still able to meet the premiums, co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses; so, yeah, I'm "satisfied". That's probably what most of those are thinking when they respond "satisfied".
Which also explains the 77% who believe that major reform is needed; they realize that very little stands between them and bankruptcy.

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