What's New
Majority support for governor's proposal...
Posted on Sep 25, 2007 Nearly 70% of California residents believe the state's healthcare system needs major reform, and state voters said health reform is the most important issue after immigration, according to a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The poll is based on a telephone survey of 2,003 California residents from Sept. 4 to Sept. 11. The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus two percentage points.
According to the poll, 72% of adults support a healthcare proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), compared to 61% who support a plan by state Democratic legislative leaders. Mark Baldassare, executive director of the institute, said the governor's focus on "shared responsibility and spreading the costs around" to help pay for his proposal was "overwhelmingly supported by Democrats and has more supporters among Republicans" than the Democrats' overhaul measure. The poll also found that nearly 50% of California residents said they are following efforts by Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature to overhaul the state healthcare system.
According to the poll, California voters are split on whether to extend healthcare coverage to undocumented immigrant children, a proposal supported by Schwarzenegger. Support for the issue climbed to 61%, however, when the question was asked of residents regardless of whether they are registered to vote.
