New Poll Americans Still Confused by President Obama's Health

							New Poll: Americans Still Confused by President
Obama’s Health Care Plan
Siegel+Gale / WEGO Health 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 & BOSTON – September 18, 2009 – 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

“Sophisticated Health Activists are power users of online tools, and each Activist influences
thousands of others through social media,” noted Jack Barrette, CEO of WEGO Health,
“91% agreed that healthcare reform is a critical issue in the online world. But 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
/ WEGO Health 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 / WEGO Health 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       Yes          32.1%
system

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

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

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 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
members of the general public 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              Percent
Option”?

Everyone                                                         18.6%

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

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%


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 general public survey was conducted by Siegel+Gale LLP, a strategic brand consulting
firm in New York City. The survey 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 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 the 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 WEGO Health Activist audience and survey,
please contact Gradon Tripp at gradont@wegohealth.com or 617-649-1507.

For more information about the Seigel+Gale survey, please contact Davia
Temin or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or
news@teminandco.com .