Poll: Virginians want restraint on healthcare policy changes

According to new polling from Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, strong majorities of Virginians are concerned about the future of healthcare, want lawmakers to show restraint on pursuing major state health care policy changes until there is clarity about what Washington does, and oppose the brand of COPN repeal some advocates have advanced.

The poll of Virginians conducted Jan. 5-10, 2017 includes these results:

• Three-fourths (76 percent) of Virginians are concerned about the future of Virginia’s hospitals
• More than two-thirds (69 percent) of Virginians are concerned that potential state and federal healthcare policy changes could impact their ability to access healthcare, and what it costs
• More than 8 in 10 (86 percent of) Virginians are concerned about the future of rural healthcare
• 56 percent of Virginians want the General Assembly to wait on Washington before making major healthcare policy changes in Richmond
• By a nearly 2-to-1 margin (59 percent), a strong majority of Virginians favor our current system with COPN rather than a free market alternative.

“Health care clearly is on the minds of many Americans and many Virginians, who are concerned about how action taken in Washington and Richmond might affect their ability to access affordable healthcare,” said J. Brad Coker, Managing Director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. “What our recent Virginia poll found is that strong majorities of Virginians have positive feelings about their hospitals (87 percent); are concerned about the future of Virginia’s hospitals (76 percent), how policy changes in Washington might harm their health care options (69 percent), and rural health care (86 percent). They also want lawmakers in Richmond to wait on Washington before changing state health care laws (56 percent), and prefer Virginia’s healthcare system with current COPN rules remaining in place (59 percent). These poll results show that Virginians appreciate the health care system they now have access to, are skittish about how changes to health care laws will impact them, and do not favor major policy shifts such as COPN repeal at this time.”