Poll: Most in state favor public insurance health option
More than half of Colorado voters are in favor of the state creating a public insurance health option and nearly three-quarters support setting limits on prescription drug costs, according to a new survey by a progressive political group.
Strategies 360, a political consulting firm, surveyed 600 registered voters in Colorado this month by phone, and the results, first reported by The Denver Post, show widespread support for health care reforms in the state.
The survey was paid for by the State Innovative Exchange, known as SiX, a national group that works to advance progressive changes.
About four in 10 survey participants were unaffiliated voters, with the rest split almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats. The margin of error was 4%.
The possibility of a public option in Colorado has garnered significant attention since last year. Proponents say they are working to reduce costs for consumers, while opponents insist that it will have unintended costs for hospitals and quality of care, with money pouring in from special interest groups opposing the model. Still, results from the survey showed a majority of Coloradans — 58% — favor a public option, with 82% of supporters identifying as liberals, 63% as moderates and 41% as conservatives.
The survey showed particularly strong support — 55% — on the Western Slope, where residents have struggled with some of the highest health care costs in the country.
“I’m not surprised to see that breakdown of numbers, because it reflects what I’ve heard,” said Sen. Kerry Donovan of Vail, one of the sponsors of the soonto-be introduced public option bill. “People back in my district just want competition and lower health care costs, and my district’s a more conservative, very rural part of the state.”
The results indicate only that Coloradans are tired of high health care costs, said Republican Sen. Paul Lundeen of Monument. They don’t necessarily mean Coloradans support a public option proposal that still hasn’t been introduced, so “let’s not get the cat in front of the horse” and rush into anything, he said.
Lundeen said he’s hearing from voters that although they want lower costs, they don’t want lawmakers to decrease access or replace doctors and insurance plans they like.
The survey results also showed that 74% of respondents favor limits on prescription drug costs, with 55% saying they would strongly support such legislation: 81% of liberals, 71% of conservatives and 74% of moderates.
Support for limiting the costs remained even after voters heard messages from supporters and opponents of legislation to limit the costs, according to the survey.