US wealthy should pay for health care overhaul, poll finds

Data could boost House plan to tax top-tier earners

November 18, 2009|Erica Werner and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Americans don’t want to shoulder the cost of President Obama’s health care overhaul themselves. They think the rich should pay for it.

That’s the finding from a new Associated Press poll, and it could be a boost for House Democrats, whose plan approved this month proposed taxing upper-income people to fund their sweeping remake of the medical system.

The survey, conducted by Stanford University with the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found survey participants sour on other ways of paying for the health overhaul. The options they don’t like include taxing insurers on the high-value coverage packages known as “Cadillac plans.’’

The Senate Finance Committee bill would tax health insurance plans costing more than $8,000 annually for individuals and $21,000 for families, although those numbers are expected to end up higher in majority leader Harry Reid’s bill. Union members are lined up against that approach because they fear their benefits could be hurt, and the poll found 56 percent of the public opposed and only 29 percent in favor.

Lawmakers also are looking at levying new taxes on insurance companies, drug companies, and medical device makers. But the only approach that drew majority support in the poll was a tax on upper-income Americans.

The House bill would impose a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and households making more than $1 million. The poll tested views on an even more punitive taxation scheme that was under consideration earlier, when the tax would have hit people making more than $250,000 a year. Even at that level the poll showed majority support, with 57 percent in favor and 36 percent opposed.

Overall, the poll - like others recently - found the public split on Congress’ health care plans. In response to some questions, participants said the current system needed to be changed, but they also voiced concerns about the impact on their pocketbooks.

For example, 77 percent said the cost of health care in the United States was higher than it should be, but 49 percent said any changes made by the government probably would cause them to pay more for health care.

The Senate health care legislation expected this week is likely to include a new long-term care insurance program to help the elderly and the disabled avoid going into nursing homes, Democratic officials said yesterday.

The officials said that Reid is expected to incorporate the voluntary program in legislation to be unveiled as early as today.

Known as the CLASS Act, the voluntary insurance program was a top priority for the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. It would begin to close a gap in the social safety net that’s received little attention in the health care debate.