Health Care Reform: Madville Times Poll Matches National Numbers on Support for Public Option

Add the Madville Times poll to the growing body of evidence that a huge majority of Americans want the government to offer a health insurance plan to compete with private insurers. Over the past week, 77% of respondents here said they want a public option.

This finding squares with numerous national surveys that show people recognize a public option will give us more choice... which is supposedly what the Republicans want us to have.

A sampling of other survey measures of support for the public option:

1. NBC/WSJ: 76%
2. CBS/NYT: 72%
3. Conservative Employee Benefit Research Institute: 83%
4. Quinnipiac: 69%
5. Abt SRBI: 56% (note: this survey, conducted last week in the heat of Congressional committee debate, found 49% in favor of a single-payer plan and 46% opposed. We've elected Presidents on narrower margins than that.)
   
6. Lake County Dems: 88%
   

Don't let the Republicans fool you: most Americans want a public option. Uncle Sam Health Insurance will provide more choice, more competition, and ultimately, health coverage for darn near everybody. And that's a big improvement over the woeful status quo.