On August 13th SurveyUSA released an 800 sample poll of adults in the Kansas City DMA (television viewing area) taken on August 13th. The poll was sponsored by KCTV, Kansas City. The margin of error for the 800 sample portion of the poll ranged from 2.7% to 3.5% depending on the response results to various questions (as responses get closer to consensus the margin of error drops). The margin of error for the other portions of the poll of with smaller samples (for instance, those who have insurance) was somewhat larger.
Do you currently have any kind of health insurance coverage?
All
Yes – 82%
No – 17%
Not Sure – 1%Age 18-34
Yes – 69%
No – 29%
Not Sure – 2%Age 35-54
Yes – 86%
No – 14%
Not Sure – 0%Age 55+
Yes – 94%
No – 5%
Not Sure – 1%Income less than $50,000
Yes – 69%
No – 29%
Not Sure – 2%Income greater than $50,000
Yes – 96%
No – 4%
Not Sure – 0%
The younger you are the more likely it is that you do not have health insurance. The higher your income the more likely it is that you do have health insurance.
The crosstabulations by type of insurance people have are quite remarkable:
How would you rate the health insurance you have now? Excellent? Good? Fair? Or poor? (margin of error – 3.9%)
respondents with Medicare
Excellent – 48%
Good – 35%
Fair – 15%
Poor – 2%
Not Sure – 0%respondents with employer provided insurance
Excellent – 35%
Good – 45%
Fair – 17%
Poor – 3%
Not Sure – 0%respondents who are self insured
Excellent – 25%
Good – 35%
Fair – 27%
Poor – 12%
Not Sure – 1%
Interesting. A government run health insurance program gets better marks. Go figure.
Do you think health care reform is needed? (margin of error 3.8%)
All
Yes – 62%
No – 30%
Not Sure – 8%
Doing nothing is not an option.
Should the government be involved in providing health care to Americans? Or should the government stay out of it? (margin of error 3.5%)
All
Should be involved – 45%
Stay out of it – 45%
Not Sure – 9%Age 18-34
Should be involved – 52%
Stay out of it – 36%
Not Sure – 12%Uninsured
Should be involved – 63%
Stay out of it – 25%
Not Sure – 12%Income less than $50,000
Should be involved – 53%
Stay out of it – 36%
Not Sure – 11%
There are a lot of interesting crosstabulations. For instance, 41% of people on Medicare think government should stay out of providing health insurance to Americans. They like their government provided health insurance better than everyone else likes their private insurance, but they think government should stay out of it. Even though government doesn’t stay out of it for them. Go figure.