[big campaign] 63% of Doctors Support a Health Reform Proposal that Includes a Public Option

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www.americansunitedforchange.org <http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jeremy Funk, 202-470-5878 DATE: September 15, 2009 Lauren Weiner, 202-470-5870 In Case You Missed It -- Majority Of Doctors Back Public Option: <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/14/majority-of-doctors-back_n_286352.html> 63% of Doctors Support a Health Reform Proposal that Includes a Public Option: "A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) study published in Monday's New England Journal of Medicine shows that 63 percent of physicians support a health reform proposal that includes both a public option and traditional private insurance. If the additional 10 percent of doctors who support an entirely public health system are included, then approximately three out of four physicians nationwide support inclusion of a public option." [Huffington Post, 9/14/09 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/14/majority-of-doctors-back_n_286352.html> ] New England Journal Of Medicine Study Follows New AUFC Poll Showing Strong Momentum for The Public Option Following President Obama's Address to Congress and New TV Ad Warning Members of Congress That Voting Against Health Insurance Reform Would Be "Bad Politics" See National Coverage Below... Click Here to Download Poll Summary and Full Survey Questions from Anzalone Liszt Research <http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/ALRPollingAUFCSummaryPostSpeech> Among the Key Findings: * 60% of likely 2010 voters say they watched at least part of the President's speech, and a majority of those who did (54%) are now more likely to support his plan * By a 10-point margin, voters are more likely to re-elect a Member of Congress who votes for healthcare reform * By a 62% to 28% margin, voters support a public option regardless of whether they watched the speech Click Here to View New TV Ad 'Bad Politics' <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Eur8lAaBg> <http://www.politico.com/livepulse/> http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0909/Receptive_audience_watched_Obama_speech.html September 14, 2009 Categories: Polls <http://dyn.politico.com/livepulse/index.cfm/category/Polls%20> Receptive audience watched Obama speech President Barack Obama faced a friendly viewing audience when he prodded Congress to overhaul the health care system last week, according to a poll conducted after his remarks. Fifty-four percent of the likely 2010 voters who watched his speech last Wednesday night said they are more likely to support his plan, compared with the 37 percent of likely voters who said they are less likely to back his overhaul after the president addressed a joint session of Congress, according to an Anzalone-Liszt Research poll <http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/page/-/files/ALR%20POLLING%20SUMMARY%20-%20AMERICANS%20UNITED%20POST-SPEECH%20POLL.pdf> commissioned by Americans United, a group aligned with the White House and congressional Democrats. The poll found that 60 percent of likely 2010 voters watched at least part of Obama's speech, and that audience was more sympathetic to Democrats than Republicans. Among people who watched the speech, 50 percent trust Obama to reform the health care system compared with the 27 percent who trust congressional Republicans. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents considered themselves Democrats while 28 percent said they were Republicans, with 30 percent identifying themselves as independents. An overwhelming majority of the people who watched Obama's speech believe the current health care system needs to be reformed. Forty-three percent of the respondents believe the system needs "major reforms," 29 percent think it only needs "minor reforms" and 18 percent would like to see a total overhaul. The audience also want to see the bill include government-sponsored health coverage, 64 percent to 28 percent - a drastically more favorable result than an ABC News/Washington Post poll published Monday that shows much more opposition to the public plan. And finally, most of those polled want to see Congress do something this year; 67 percent think the system needs to be reformed this year. Americans United will be on the air in Washington this week warning members of Congress that opposing a health care plan could imperil their standing on Capitol Hill. In the ad, a political consultant apologizes to a defeated lawmaker for misreading the election landscape, telling the loser that "voters hated the strangle hold the insurance companies have on health care." By Patrick O'Connor 09:31 AM Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 09:45 EDT http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/09/14/auc_ad/?source=refresh Bad politics to oppose healthcare reform? Americans United for Change, a liberal group backing healthcare reform, is out with a new ad that tries to push votes in Congress for the Democratic plan. The spot is something fairly new, strategy-wise, at least for this fight -- a case for the proposals on both policy and political grounds. Instead of a traditional narrator, the ad features an actor playing a political consultant, who speaks directly into the camera to say, "Congressman, as your political consultant, I'm sorry you lost... I was wrong. Turned out the voters hated the strangle hold the insurance companies have on health care... raising premiums... cutting off people with pre-existing conditions... making health care decisions instead of doctors .... Guess your vote against health insurance reform turned out to be bad politics." The spot, which is slated to air on cable in Washington, D.C., is accompanied by polling data <http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/ALRPollingAUFCSummaryPostSpeech> put out by the group to make the case for healthcare reform as a smart political choice. The chance that some members of Congress will watch this ad and be swayed seems slim, but the point may be more to move the debate in a direction more favorable to proponents of reform, one where the political advantage is seen to be on their side. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Eur8lAaBg> ¯ Alex Koppelman Morning Fix: Obama, Health Care and Political Timelines http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/morning-fix-1.html#more <http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/morning-fix-1.html#more> President Obama's comments on health care -- made Sunday during a 60 Minutes interview with CBS's Steve Kroft <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/13/60minutes/main5307481.shtml> -- highlight the fundamentally different political timetables on which he and the Democratic-controlled Congress are operating. Asked about his willingness to compromise on a bill, Obama responded: I intend to be president for a while and once bill passes, I own it. And if people look and say, 'You know what? This hasn't reduced my costs. My premiums are still going up 25 percent, insurance companies are still jerking me around,' I'm the one who's going to be held responsible. True. But, Obama's self-described timetable includes the implementation of a plan -- assuming one passes the Congress this fall -- leading up to his run for re-election in 2012. House and Senate Democrats don't have that long. The simple reality is that if a bill passes late this year, there is almost no chance that voters will be able to experience, process and judge the changes to their own health care coverage before November 2010. The far more compressed time line for congressional Democrats means that the health care vote itself -- not necessarily how or whether the legislation works -- may be all voters have to judge their members on when it comes to health care and the midterm election. Given that reality, it's not surprising that many of those most reluctant to fall in line behind the president are either House Democrats who sit in conservative-leaning districts <http://arkansasnews.com/2009/09/12/ross-tells-it-like-it-might-be/> (i.e., the Blue Dogs) or people like Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) who will stand for re-election next November in a state that went strongly for the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. Those same members are almost certain to also be spooked by predictions of Democratic losses in the House of 20 seats or more <http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/09/13/election_trouble_brewing_for_house_dems_in_2010/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Top+political+stories> by the likes of respected political handicappers like Charlie Cook and Larry Sabato. It's no secret to anyone who has spent time in Washington that members of Congress do not like taking votes where there is no clear political right answer. And, taking those sort of votes a year (or less) from a midterm election where doom and gloom is already being predicted for the party is even less appealing. Knowing this, Americans United, a liberal interest group, commissioned a survey by Democratic pollsters John Anzalone and Jeff Liszt that casts a vote for the president's health care plan as not just politically tenable but advantageous. In the Anzalone survey, 49 percent of those tested said they would be more likely to back their member of Congress' re-election bid if he or she voted for health care reform. Still, as with any major piece of legislation in Congress, the devil is in the details. While voters may express support for health care reform broadly, the anger expressed at town halls across the country over the August recess suggests there is a significant constituency that chafes at the government intervention. Every member who has to stand before voters in 2010 must make their own calculation about how a vote for (or against) the Obama health care proposal will play in their districts. It's this every-man-for-himself mentality that the White House is fighting as they seek to rally support for the bill and why compromise -- even among Democrats -- is so elusive. AMERICANS UNITED FOR CHANGE (D) Time May Change Me Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 Conducted 9/10-11 by Anzalone Liszt Research (D); surveyed 801 LVs; margin of error +/- 3.5% (release, 9/12). Obama As POTUS Excellent/good 56% Not so good/poor 41 Monday ... 9/14/2009 ... 9 am WHAT'S NEWS *Americans United for Change is up with a new TV ad <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Eur8lAaBg> on DC cable, arguing that a vote against health care reform will be "bad politics" (Wake-Up Call! sources). http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/09/ownership-society-what-happened-to-health-cares-new-momentum.html New ad Monday <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Eur8lAaBg> from Americans United for Change -- a five-figure buy on DC cable. Political Consultant: "Congressman, as your political consultant...I'm sorry you lost... I was wrong. Turned out the voters hated the strangle hold the insurance companies have on health care.. raising premiums...cutting off people with pre-existing conditions... making health care decisions instead of doctors. And they didn't much like the millionaire insurance CEO's you were hanging with either. Guess your vote against health insurance reform turned out to be bad politics." http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/14/2067426.aspx Americans United has a new TV ad <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Eur8lAaBg> arguing that a vote against health-care reform is bad politics. <http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/> September 14, 2009 Categories: Healthcare <http://dyn.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/index.cfm/category/Healthcare> http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0909/AUC_Bad_Politics.html?showall AUC: 'Bad Politics' <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Eur8lAaBg> Americans United for Change makes the case, in this D.C. cable spot, that members of Congress will be punished for voting against health care reform. The White House and its allies are trying to beat back the conventional wisdom that for the members for whom it matters -- Democrats in conservative districts -- this is a dangerous vote. By Ben Smith 09:14 AM <http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/> Public still divided on health care <http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/09/public_still_di.html> Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor September 14, 2009 04:03 PM <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Eur8lAaBg> A liberal-labor coalition is up with a new TV ad arguing that opposition President Obama's health care overhaul could cost members of Congress at the polls next November. The spot from Americans United for Change shows a political consultant apologizing to a losing candidate at 11:03 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 2, 2010. "Congressman as your political consultant," he says to the camera. "I'm sorry you lost. I was wrong. Turned out the voters hated the stranglehold the insurance companies have on health care, raising premiums, cutting off people with pre-existing conditions, making health care decisions instead of doctors. And they didn't much like the millionaire insurance CEO's you were hanging with either. Guess your vote against health insurance reform turned out to be bad politics." Obama speech boosts health care reform >Archive <http://www.pww.org/article/archive/0/> - Daily Online <http://www.pww.org/article/archive/266/> Author: Tim Wheeler <http://www.pww.org/article/author/view/3> People's Weekly World Newspaper, 09/15/09 17:35 http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/17005/ By Tim Wheeler President Obama's recent speech to Congress calling for an end to bickering, fear-mongering and insurance company lies, gave a powerful boost to health care reform with a new poll showing strong majority support for his package including a Medicare-style "public option" to provide coverage for all. Americans United for Change (AUFC) released the poll showing that by a 62 percent to 28 percent margin voters support a health care public option funded by the federal government. Tom McMahon, AUFC Acting Executive Director said the poll of likely voters in the 2010 election who watched Obama's speech proves "the more people learn about the president's health insurance reform proposals the more they like it."\ The surge in Obama's support, "including the public option, should reassure members of Congress who support reform that they have the high political ground." It is a warning to those who oppose reform that they do so at their own "political peril," McMahon said. Organizing for America, the grassroots movement based on the 14 million activists in Obama's election campaign announced a national "Day of Action" Sept. 22 titled "Big Insurance: Sick of it!" Protesters will stage rallies and mass picket lines in front of the headquarters and branch offices of health insurance companies across the nation to protest the lies and misinformation they have spread against health care reform. Cosponsors of the protests include MoveOn, AFL-CIO, SEIU, AFSCME, USAction, Health Care for America Now and others. Another poll released Sept. 15 showed that medical doctors support the public option by an even wider margin than the general population. The poll, conducted by two physicians at Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that most doctors, 63 percent, favor giving patients a choice that includes both public and private insurance. An additional 10 percent favor single-payer, according to the poll. Together the two groups add up to 73 percent of medical doctors who favor a public option. "Whether they lived in southern regions of the United States or traditionally liberal parts of the countrty...the support for the public option was broad and widespread," said one of the pollsters, Dr. Salomeh Kehyani. She said one reason for the strong support is doctors' positive experience with Medicare, the federally-funded single-payer system that serves more than 40 million senior citizens and disabled people. Alex Federman, the other physician who conducted the poll said they found very strong support for the public option among doctors who belong to the American Medical Association even though AMA officially opposes the plan. Federman said, "part of our reason for doing the research was really to get at the real voice of physicians as opposed to voice of one physician organization." Both Federman and Kehyani belong to a smaller doctor's group, the National Physicians Alliance. ________________________________________ Jeremy J. Funk Communications Director, Americans United for Change Office: 202.470.5878 Cell: 605.366.3654 [email protected] www.AmericansUnitedforChange.org <http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "big campaign" group. To post to this group, send to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] E-mail [email protected] with questions or concerns This is a list of individuals. It is not affiliated with any group or organization. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---