The online survey of 1,042 adults and 102 health activists from WEGO Health, conducted last weekend following President Obama's health care address to Congress, finds that even among supporters of the President and his plan, most Americans could not correctly identify key aspects of the proposal - including funding, who would be covered by a public option, and when the plan would go into effect.
"Clearly the whole health care issue is fraught with complexity, political in-fighting, and emotion that is not helped by poor media coverage. So I'm not surprised that the American people have thrown up their hands - even sophisticated consumer advocates are not clear about the plan," says Alan Siegel, Chairman and Founder of Siegel+Gale.
Key findings include:
- Only 16.5% of the public believes the plan would not add "one dime" to the federal deficit, and 36.1% believe that the plan will add a "massive amount" to the deficit
- When asked about how the plan would be funded, less than one-third of the respondents cited one of the key funding sources that Obama mentioned - fines to be levied on large companies that don't offer health insurance to their employees
- Almost 20% of respondents answered that funding would come from a fine levied against wealthy individuals - an answer included in the survey questions that has never even been discussed
- While health activists - online consumer health opinion leaders - were significantly more accurate than the average consumer on most points, the majority also reported a low understanding of the President's plan
- Online health activists also confirmed that typical consumers they encountered online had a poor comprehension of the Obama health care plan
