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July 06, 2005 at 08:00 PM
L28childAB.xml Child–go page xx, with –95 lines. Graphic: upon request
A majority of conservative Republican voters polled recently told a survey team that the federal government should provide health insurance for all children whose parents cannot afford private coverage.
The Every Child Matters Education Fund, Washington, a group that is promoting expansion of federal children’s health insurance programs, has published that finding in a report on a nationwide survey of 800 U.S. voters who say they are likely to vote in the 2006 general election.
The researchers at Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc., Washington, who conducted the survey for Every Child found that 79% of the voters surveyed agreed with this statement: “It is our moral responsibility to make sure all children have quality health care and it is important for the federal government to invest in such programs.”
Even more of the participants-82%==agreed that, “If parents become unable to afford or provide health care, every child in America should be covered under a federal health care program that would provide prevention and treatment.
About 75% of the participants said they would support a bill that would require the federal government to pay the full cost of insuring every child below the poverty level and having federal and state governments combine to supply subsidies for “parents of other needy children.”
Support for government health coverage for all needy children was strong across the board, according to Every Child.
The survey participants who showed the most resistance to the idea that the federal government ought to provide health coverage for all needy children were those who identified themselves as conservative Republicans, Every Child says.
About 28% of the participants called themselves conservative Republicans, and conservative Republicans made up the largest ideological bloc. The second biggest bloc, which included liberal and moderate independents, included 21% of the survey participants, Every Child says.
