Californians Favor Health Law’s Exchanges

San Francisco Chronicle, by Joe Garofoli

August 20, 2012: As health care and the future of Medicare take center stage in the presidential campaign, many Californians are optimistic about one aspect of the new federal health care law – the online exchange where residents can shop for coverage, according to a Field Poll released Monday. The survey, taken July 12-29 and funded by the California Wellness Foundation, is Field’s sixth annual look at public opinion on health care issues.

Support for the law (54 percent) continues to be strong in a state where Democrats dominate and there are comparatively higher numbers of ethnic voters who traditionally have supported the law. In addition, the state is home to “a large vulnerable population” of uninsured residents, said Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo.

Those who “strongly support” the national law spiked to 38 percent (up seven percentage points from 2011) after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June backed key provisions of the law, Field found. More importantly, the poll offered a look ahead at what voters hope the new law will do when fully implemented in the next couple of years.

California, home to 7 million uninsured residents, moved quickly to implement aspects of the Affordable Care Act. A key component of the law is the health insurance exchange, a virtual marketplace where people in 2014 are expected to be able to buy insurance at competitive prices, many of them with the help of federal subsidies.

Nation’s first

The state was the first in the nation to set up its exchange and is preparing to enroll people in fall 2013 for coverage in 2014. While only 17 percent of the Field Poll respondents knew about the exchange, 74 percent said that an online website, where they could comparison shop for the best plan, would help them.

In terms of how the exchange would work, a majority of voters (59 percent) want it to require insurance companies to offer more health plans that give primary-care doctors a bigger role in coordinating care for patients.

“That is a fantastic finding,” said Diana Bontá, president and CEO of the California Wellness Foundation and a trained nurse. “That is a sentiment that isn’t coming from government study but from the voice of the people.”

The poll also found that 52 percent of the respondents want insurance companies to structure their plans to reward doctors and hospitals more for their quality of care rather than the number of people they treat.

Fabeola Greer, a 64-year-old warehouse production worker in Oakland who was part of the survey, would use the insurance exchange “so long as you could compare prices easily.”

Like many Californians, Greer has insurance through her employer. But she worries about her children, both in their thirties, who don’t have coverage. “There are a lot of people like that who don’t have it,” she said.

The survey found that more than one-third of the state’s voters are currently uninsured or have a family member who has gone without coverage for two years. Those voters support the new law by a ratio of more than 2 to 1.

Another respondent, Lee Mahler, received her education degree in June from Santa Clara University but has had trouble finding a job. The 23-year-old has applied for 45 teaching positions without a nibble so far. She would make about $100 a day if she were a daily substitute teacher.

Parents’ plan

Fortunately, Mahler lives with her parents and can remain on their health plan thanks to the new federal law. “I’m in favor of the new law because I know of a lot of people who are not as fortunate to be in the same position that I’m in,” Mahler said.

While California remains on the cutting edge nationally of implementing the new health care law, it still has more work to do. Gov. Jerry Brown will call for a special session of the Legislature in December to make changes in state law to further implement the federal law.

The Field Poll’s findings are based on a survey of 1,579 registered California voters conducted by telephone in seven languages and dialects – English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese and Tagalog. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. The full survey can be viewed at www.field.com/fieldpollonline.

Source: John & Rusty’s Report via Choice Admin