Divided on Healthcare

In a 1938 Gallup poll, 81 percent of interviewees said that the government should be responsible for providing medical care for people who are unable to pay for it. In 1991, when Gallup repeated the question, a virtually identical 80 percent said this was a government responsibility. Those consistent responses help explain why the healthcare issue is a hardy perennial of American politics. A compassionate nation wants to help the less fortunate. Fox News and Opinion Dynamics recently asked two questions about government’s responsibility that were framed differently from the Gallup questions. One-third of respondents said it was the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans who want a job have a job. A larger proportion, 51 percent, said it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have healthcare. Forty-six percent disagreed.

Source: Fox News/Opinion Dynamics, July 2009.