DOI: 10.3886/icpsr06287.v1
title: Washington Post Health Care Poll, October 1993
title: Version 1

description: This special topic poll provides a continuing evaluation of 
 President Bill Clinton's presidency with regard to his handling of the 
 economy, foreign affairs, and the situation in Somalia, and also 
 focuses on Clinton's health care plan. Respondents were asked about 
 their own form of health insurance, the source of that coverage, and 
 their level of knowledge concerning Clinton's health care plan. Items 
 assessing Clinton's proposal for health care focused on respondents' 
 approval of the plan, whether the plan was better than the present 
 system, and whether respondents would support an increase in taxes to 
 help pay for Clinton's health care plan. Respondents were also queried 
 regarding what they thought the effect of Clinton's plan would be on 
 how much they paid for health insurance, the effect of the plan on 
 health insurance coverage and the quality of health care, whether 
 Congress should pass Clinton's plan, and whether the plan created too 
 much government involvement in the nation's health care system. Items 
 assessing respondents' grasp of the details of Clinton's plan dealt 
 with contingencies such as whether switching doctors, hospitals, or 
 insurance companies would be necessary under the new plan, whether all 
 the costs of health insurance for workers and their families would be 
 covered under the new plan, whether people who lost or quit their jobs 
 would also lose their coverage under the new plan, the effect of the 
 plan on people who were on welfare and people who were not working, and 
 whether going to the doctor or hospital would involve filling out more 
 paperwork under the new plan. Respondents were also asked for their 
 opinions about Clinton's plan for a health security card, whether they 
 were concerned about various potential repercussions of the health care 
 plan, including increased government bureaucracy, a decline in the 
 quality of medical care, limited choice of doctors or hospitals, or 
 increased taxes to pay for the plan, and whether they thought Clinton's 
 plan would help or hurt various constituencies such as doctors, small 
 businesses, insurance companies, and retired people. Additional survey 
 items covered whether the Clinton administration had a complete plan 
 for health care reform, whether Clinton had described all the important 
 features of the plan to the public, and whether people such as Hillary 
 Clinton, Newt Gingrich, or Robert Dole, among others, had influenced 
 how respondents thought about the health care plan. Background 
 information on respondents includes political party, voter registration 
 status, most recent presidential vote choice, political orientation, 
 education, age, religion, marital status, labor union membership, 
employment status, Hispanic origin, household income, and sex.
description: Households were selected by random-digit dialing. Within 
 households, the respondent selected was the adult living in the 
 household who last had a birthday and who was at home at the time of 
the interview.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Washington Post Health Care Poll, October 1993
description: Adults aged 18 and over living in households with 
telephones in the 48 contiguous United States.
description: A weight variable with two implied decimal places has 
been included and must be used in any analysis.