New Poll: Americans Still Confused by President Obama's Health Care Plan -- Siegel+Gale...

New Poll: Americans Still Confused by President Obama's Health Care Plan --
Siegel+Gale Survey Finds Dramatic Lack of Understanding of Basic Points in
Plan, Even Among Democrats
Only 36.9% of Americans believe they understand the plan

NEW YORK, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As President Obama prepares to
make back-to-back appearances on the Sunday morning talk shows and David
Letterman in an effort to garner support for his proposed health care plan,
his primary challenge will be in helping his audience to understand what the
plan entails.

According to a recent survey commissioned by global strategic branding firm
Siegel+Gale, Americans across the political spectrum are significantly
confused by major points of the President's proposed health care plan - even
after his nationally televised address to Congress.

The online survey of 1,042 adults and 102 health activists from WEGO Health,
conducted last weekend following President Obama's health care address to
Congress, finds that even among supporters of the President and his plan, most
Americans could not correctly identify key aspects of the proposal - including
funding, who would be covered by a public option, and when the plan would go
into effect.

"Clearly the whole health care issue is fraught with complexity, political
in-fighting, and emotion that is not helped by poor media coverage. So I'm not
surprised that the American people have thrown up their hands - even
sophisticated consumer advocates are not clear about the plan," says Alan
Siegel, Chairman and Founder of Siegel+Gale.

Key findings include:
-- Only 16.5% of the public believes the plan would not add "one
dime" to the federal deficit, and 36.1% believe that the plan will
add a "massive amount" to the deficit
-- When asked about how the plan would be funded, less than one-third of
the respondents cited one of the key funding sources that Obama
mentioned - fines to be levied on large companies that don't offer
health insurance to their employees
-- Almost 20% of respondents answered that funding would come from a fine
levied against wealthy individuals - an answer included in the survey
questions that has never even been discussed
-- While health activists - online consumer health opinion leaders - were
significantly more accurate than the average consumer on most points,
the majority also reported a low understanding of the President's
plan

-- Online health activists also confirmed that typical consumers they
encountered online had a poor comprehension of the Obama health care
plan

Taking the nation's temperature
Conducted on the weekend following the President's September 9th speech, the
Siegel+Gale survey asked respondents whether they understood the proposal, and
inquired about its details based on President Obama's speech. Among the
general population, just 36.9% said that they understood the President's plan.
Of those who actually watched the September 9th address to Congress, the
number was higher: 57.9% claimed to understand it. Yet even these respondents
provided incorrect answers with surprising frequency.

The Siegel+Gale poll reveals that many aspects of the proposal - particularly
the impact it will have on the U.S. deficit - are widely misunderstood or not
believed.

Perhaps the most significant conclusion of the survey is that only 32.4% of
the public actually supports the President's proposal at this time. Even among
WEGO Health's health care activists - a group that leans predominantly
Democratic according to the survey - fewer than half (44.7%) support the plan.

Fear of mounting deficit
Despite the President's statement that, "I will not sign a plan that adds one
dime to our deficits, either now or in the future," only 16.5% of the public
believes this. 12.8% believe it will add "a modest amount," and 36.1% believe
it will add "a massive amount" to the deficit. Of those who watched the speech
and claim to understand the proposal, 28.8% believe the plan will add a
massive amount to the deficit.

Source of confusion: funding
While the President cited three sources of funding - savings from reforms,
fees from insurance companies, and fees from large companies that don't offer
health insurance to employees - there remains widespread confusion about how
President Obama proposes to finance the plan. Despite the President's
assurances, people think funding will come from the sources below:

Source of funding President Public

Through higher health insurance premiums No 11.0%

Through higher taxes No 28.4%

By increasing the Federal deficit No 25.3%

Through savings from reforms to the
health care system Yes 32.1%

Through fees paid by insurance companies that
sell expensive health insurance plans Yes 20.2%

Through fees paid by large companies that don't
offer health insurance to their employees Yes 26.7%

Through reductions in Medicare benefits No 18.7%

Through special levies against wealthy
individuals No 19.6%

I don't know 40.1%

Confusion also reigns when it comes to abortion coverage, one of the most
emotional issues. Among the general public/health care activists, 19.6/16.5%
believe the Obama proposal will pay to terminate pregnancies, 28.9/36.9%
believe it won't, and 51.5/46.6% don't know. Even those who watched the speech
and claim to understand the proposal are split: 23.2% say yes, 48.8% say no,
and 28.2% still don't know.

Lack of clarity about the "public option"
The majority of the public acknowledges that the plan still contains a "public
option," but it is confused about who would participate in it. Again, even
those who watched the speech and claim to understand the plan betray a lack of
understanding of the meaning of the "public option," as evidenced below:

Who would be required to participate in the "Public Option"? Percent

Everyone 18.6%

Everyone except for certain groups of individuals
such as members of Congress 15.8%

Those who do not currently have insurance 42.5%

No one 17.9%

I don't know 5.3%

When would the plan be implemented?
The President cited 2013 as the target date for full implementation of the
plan. Despite that, over 40% just don't know:

Effective Date Percent

Immediately 2.8%
2010 7.6%
2013 18.1%
Whenever it is approved by Congress 30.2%
I don't know 41.3%

Confusion over business's role
The public also does not understand what the Administration is asking of large
businesses. Again, even the cognoscenti who watched the speech demonstrate
confusion: 42.8% say all large companies will be required to offer health
insurance to their employees, 47.0% understood the President to say that large
companies that don't offer health insurance will be required to help cover the
cost of making insurance affordable to individuals. And, among the general
public, 34.6% have no idea.

What the speech did accomplish
Among those who claimed to understand the President's proposal, the speech did
increase the percentage of people who can identify certain specific aspects of
the plan correctly:

-- 91.2% of those who watched said the President's plan will cover all
U.S. citizens, versus 84.8% of those who did not watch the speech but
still claim to understand the proposal
-- Only 18.6% believe the plan will cover those who are in the country
illegally, versus 37.4% among those who did not watch the speech
-- 36.1% stated that the plan will add nothing to the deficit compared to
17.2% among those who did not watch
-- 28.8% of those who watched the speech said the plan will add "a
massive amount" to the deficit, versus 59.6% among those who did
not watch

-- 87.6% state that people with insurance coverage today can keep that
coverage if they want to, versus only 51.6% of those who did not watch
the speech

Of those who listened to the speech and claimed to understand it, 67.4% came
away convinced that the plan incorporates ideas from both Republicans and
Democrats.

Who supports the proposal?
The public still needs a lot of convincing to support the plan. 56.7% of
Democrats support the President's plan, while just 54.0% of Independents who
lean Democratic support it. Less than 10% of Republicans and Independents who
lean Republican support the plan. Of the 16.3% of the respondents who
identified themselves as true Independents, only 21.2% of them support the
plan.

Political Identification Support Plan

Democrat 56.7%
Independent who leans Democratic 54.0%
Independent who leans Republican 8.5%
Republican 9.0%
None of the above 21.2%

Interestingly, those with lower incomes - who are more likely to be part of
the public option - are less likely to be supportive of the proposal than are
those with higher income levels, suggesting that the outreach and educational
efforts might be profitably focused on that audience:

Household Income Support Plan

Under $25,000 28.8%
$25,000 - $49,000 31.9%
$50,000 - $99,999 35.7%
$100,000 - $149,999 36.5%
Over $150,000 40.9%

African-Americans are much more likely to support the plan than are other
ethnic segments:

Ethnicity Support Plan

Caucasian 29.1%
African-American 57.9%
Hispanic 44.4%
Asian or Pacific Islander 38.5%

The Bottom Line
"The bottom line," says Alan Siegel, "is that this survey reinforces in very
dramatic terms that the American people are extremely confused about the
President's well-intentioned desire to bring universal health care to our
broken system. The White House, in my opinion, should outline the basic
architecture of the plan instead of reacting to criticisms and emotional
issues brought by critics."

Survey Methodology
The survey was conducted by Siegel+Gale LLP, a strategic brand consulting firm
in New York City. The survey of the general public was conducted on September
12-14, 2009 among 1,042 individuals 18+ years of age using Greenfield Online's
consumer panel. The maximum sampling error of the survey is +/- 3.0 percentage
points at the 95% level of confidence.

The survey of health care activists was taken by 102 members of Boston-based
WEGO Health's panel of health care experts, bloggers, and other activists. The
maximum sampling error of this survey is +/- 9.7 percentage points at the 95%
level of confidence.

About Siegel+Gale
Siegel+Gale (www.siegelgale.com) is one of the world's premier strategic
branding companies and a pioneer in simplifying complex customer
communications. Since it was founded by Alan Siegel in 1969, the firm has
applied the art and science of simplicity to create branding programs that
have helped many of the world's best-known organizations excel. Driven by its
philosophy of "Simple is Smart," Siegel+Gale has led the way in bringing
innovation to the corporate branding field, including transforming complex,
incomprehensible customer communications into plain English; helping clients
create distinctive brand voices across all their communications; transporting
brands onto the Internet; and aligning the brand experience with the brand
promise.

The firm's clients include AARP, Aetna, American Express, Bank of America,
Dell, The Four Seasons Hotel Group, The Internal Revenue Service, Lexus,
Merrill Lynch, 3M, Microsoft, Motorola, the National Basketball Association,
Pfizer, and Sony PlayStation. Siegel+Gale has offices in New York, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, London, and Dubai, and strategic partnerships around
the world.

Siegel+Gale is part of the Omnicom Group Inc. (www.omnicomgroup.com), a
leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's
branded networks and numerous specialty firms serve over 5,000 clients in more
than 100 countries.

About WEGO Health
WEGO Health (www.wegohealth.com) is first online home for consumer Health
Activists, social media's most active 10 percent, passionate about helping
others lead healthier lives. Health Activists - organizers, connectors,
leaders and contributors - meet at WEGO Health, then carry knowledge, content
and relationships back to the health social Web. In addition, WEGO Health's
Activist Social Network is the trusted community liaison to pharmaceutical and
health marketers, who engage the Activist Social Network through innovative
sponsorships, industry advisory panels, collaborative content development,
widget distribution and more. Founded in 2007 and led by online health
pioneers Jack Barrette and Bob Brooks, WEGO Health gives consumer health
activists a voice to industry, and helps the world's top health brands
support, navigate, and participate in the evolving world of health social
media.

For more information about the survey, or to speak with Alan Siegel, please
contact Davia Temin or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or
news@teminandco.com.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s),
click appropriate link.
Alan Siegel
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=79945

SOURCE Siegel+Gale

Davia Temin or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at +1-212-588-8788 or
news@teminandco.com, for Siegel+Gale