N AT I O N A L S U R V E Y O F L I K E LY V OT E R S July 5-7, 2016
METHODOLOGY 2 The following national survey was conducted by OnMessage Inc. Telephone interviews were conducted on July 5-7, 2016. This survey consists of 1000 likely voters and was stratified to reflect historic voter trends and margin of error is +/- 3.10%.
Political Environment
M O S T I M P O R TA N T I SSUE 4 4 5 5 8 18 10 10 21 15 Improving our economy Strengthening our military and improving national security Reducing federal spending and debt Protecting Social Security and Medicare Passing new gun control laws Reforming immigration laws Bringing down health care costs Improving education All of the above Democrat Independent Republican 18 21 17 22 7 4 4 4 8 4 4 4 18 3 13 10 16 14 17 3 1 8 1 6 14 21 26
Healthcare Environment
O B A M ACARE 9 Based on everything that you have seen, read and heard, do you favor or oppose President Obama s health care law, also known as Obamacare? 45 51 8 20 43 25 4 Favor Oppose DK/Refused Somewhat Strongly
O B A M ACARE 7 85 12 Party 35 61 8 89 Favor Oppose Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 46 53 45 51 56 41 48 47 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
8 P R OV I D I N G Q U A L I T Y H E A LT H C A R E Thinking about healthcare coverage in the United States, which of the following do you believe is better at providing quality healthcare coverage, private health insurance companies or the Federal government? 57 26 Private Insurance Companies Federal Government 4 5 7 Both Neither DK/Refuse
P R OV I D I N G Q U A L I T Y H E A LT H C A R E 9 30 49 Party 63 21 85 5 Private Insurance Companies Federal Government Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 57 59 61 54 25 27 25 27 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
P R OV I D I N G A F F O R D A B L E H E A LT H C A R E 10 Thinking about healthcare coverage in the United States, which of the following do you believe is better at providing affordable healthcare coverage, private health insurance companies or the Federal government? 48 39 Private Insurance Companies Federal Government 2 6 5 Both Neither DK/Refuse
P R OV I D I N G A F F O R D A B L E H E A LT H C A R E 11 16 70 Party 51 33 80 9 Private Insurance Companies Federal Government Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 47 49 51 44 40 39 37 41 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
P R OV I D I N G C OV E R AG E F O R S E R I O U S I S S U E S 12 Thinking again about healthcare coverage in the United States, which of the following do you believe provides the best coverage to people with the most serious health conditions, like cancer and HIV, which require significant medical treatments? 49 Private Insurance Companies 34 Federal Government 3 4 10 Both Neither DK/Refuse
P R OV I D I N G C OV E R AG E F O R S E R I O U S I S S U E S 13 27 54 Party 52 32 72 13 Private Insurance Companies Federal Government Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 51 46 51 47 31 37 35 34 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
C O N C E R N A B O U T F EWER I N S U R A N C E C O M PA N I E S Thinking generally about your health care options, if there are fewer or no private health insurance companies in the Obamacare marketplaces, which of the following concerns you most? 14 2 4 17 7 7 7 The government will step in and take over health care Higher premiums 21 Lower quality care Fewer health care options Fewer choices of doctors Longer wait times Higher taxes 14 More than one DK/Refused 14 Democrat Independent Republican 9 5 3 8 9 10 12 15 20 21 3 3 7 7 7 19 13 13 24 31 5 4 5 14 32 9
Insurance Industry Issues
R E I N S U R A N C E H E A D TO H E A D 16 As you may know, millions of uninsured people obtained health insurance through Obamacare. Many of these individuals had serious and costly medical conditions. Because of this, Obamacare set up a temporary Reinsurance Program to help pay for these very high claims. This reinsurance program created a pool of dollars that is 100% funded by insurance providers without the help of federal money. As required by law, private health insurance companies reduced their premiums with the promise they would later be reimbursed for these high claims from the Reinsurance fund. Recently however, Congress has proposed using this fund instead to reimburse the Treasury Department for money paid years ago to big unions and other employers in different programs associated with Obamacare. With this in mind, please tell me which of the following comes closest to your opinion. Some say that this is a hidden tax on private health insurance companies and that these companies should not be punished because the government didn t collect enough money to maintain its budget for other programs under Obamacare. They say that failing to reimburse these private health insurance companies is unfair and will only result in higher premiums and fewer options for patients. Other people say that paying these private health insurance companies before reimbursing the Treasury Department amounts to an insurance bailout. They say that these private health insurance companies set their rates too low, and that tax payers should not be burdened because the government didn t collect enough money for other Obamacare programs. 40 30 Reimburse/Hidden tax Don't Reimburse/Insurance Bailout 4 9 17 Both Neither DK/Refuse
R E I N S U R A N C E H E A D TO H E A D 17 Party Reimburse/Hidden tax Don't Reimburse/Insurance Bailout 28 36 45 51 27 25 Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 43 39 44 37 32 30 29 31 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
F E D E R A L G OV T M UST K EEP T H E I R W O R D As you may know, some private health insurance companies are choosing to not participate in Obamacare insurance exchanges because the government sometimes changes the rules after private health insurance companies have already set the premiums for their customers which can result in significant financial losses for these private companies. With this in mind, please tell me if you agree or disagree with the following statement. If private health insurance companies are doing their part and following the rules required by Obamacare, the government must act as a good business partner and hold up their end of the deal. Somewhat 79 Strongly 23 28 51 13 5 8 8 Agree Disagree DK/Refused
F E D E R A L G OV T M UST K EEP T H E I R W O R D 19 Party 76 81 81 Agree Disagree 14 11 13 Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 82 79 78 80 13 13 14 12 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
U N FA I R F O R F E D S TO C H A N G E THE R U L E S Thinking again about private health insurance companies who are choosing to not participate in Obamacare, please tell me if you agree or disagree with the following statement. Private health insurance companies should not be penalized for following the rules, and it is unfair for Congress to make changes after the fact that cause financial harm to these private health insurance companies. 25 67 Somewhat Strongly 24 43 25 10 15 8 Agree Disagree DK/Refused
U N FA I R F O R F E D S TO C H A N G E THE R U L E S 21 51 38 Party 69 23 83 13 Agree Disagree Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 68 66 70 64 26 25 24 27 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
H H S S H O U L D PAY F O R T H E I R O WN M I S TA K E S 27 Thinking generally about health care programs, please tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statement. If the Department of Health and Human Services has made a mistake in program design and finds itself short of funds, HHS should be required to make up that difference out of its own administrative funds rather than changing the rules after the fact to take money away from private sector partners who did what they were supposed to do. 68 Somewhat Strongly 26 42 19 10 9 13 Agree Disagree DK/Refused
H H S S H O U L D PAY F O R T H E I R O WN M I S TA K E S 23 56 Party 68 81 Agree Disagree 28 20 7 Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 71 68 67 69 18 19 21 17 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
29 S I N G L E PAY E R FAVO R/OP P O S E In general, would you favor or oppose a government run health care system where the federal government replaces all private health insurance companies. Somewhat 34 14 61 11 50 Strongly 20 Favor Oppose DK/Refused 5
25 S I N G L E PAY E R FAVO R/OP P O S E 60 Party 69 86 Favor Oppose 34 21 11 Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 60 62 63 58 34 33 32 36 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
G OV T R ULE B R E A K I N G W ILL L E A D TO S I N G L E PAY E R 26 Please tell me whether you believe the following statement is true or false. If the government continues to act as a bad business partner by changing the rules after the fact and paying private health insurance companies less than agreed to, causing them to pull out of the Obamacare insurance exchanges, it could lead to a government run health care system where all healthcare coverage comes from the federal government. 51 32 17 True False DK/Refused
G OV T R ULE B R E A K I N G W ILL L E A D TO S I N G L E PAY E R 27 40 Party 53 62 39 32 25 True False Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 54 50 53 48 33 32 33 32 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
33 B A L A N C I N G B U D G E T ON B A C K S OF P R I VAT E C O M PA N I E S Thinking again about the Reinsurance Program, please tell me if you agree or disagree with the following statement. By not reimbursing private health insurance companies for following the law as they were required to under Obamacare, the government is balancing their budget on the back of private businesses. Somewhat Strongly 55 26 29 32 15 17 13 Agree Disagree DK/Refused
B A L A N C I N G B U D G E T ON B A C K S OF P R I VAT E C O M PA N I E S 29 35 50 Party 62 26 75 15 Agree Disagree Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 59 54 59 52 30 33 30 33 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
C O N T I N U E TO I N C E N T I V I Z E P R I VAT E PA R T I C I PAT I O N As you may know, some private health insurance companies are choosing to not participate in Obamacare insurance exchanges due to the increased regulations and costs associated with law. With this in mind, please tell me if you agree or disagree with the following statement. It is critical that Congress continue to incentivize private health insurance companies to participate in Obamacare exchanges because a lack of competition within the exchanges will cause premiums to skyrocket. 37 55 27 28 31 12 19 14 Somewhat Strongly Agree Disagree DK/Refused
C O N T I N U E TO I N C E N T I V I Z E P R I VAT E PA R T I C I PAT I O N 31 Party 59 52 54 27 33 35 Agree Disagree Democrat Independent Republican Age/Gender 57 56 58 53 34 30 33 29 55 & Under Over 55 Male Female
N AT I O N A L S U R V E Y O F L I K E LY V OT E R S July 5-7, 2016