Overnight Survey Says: Independents More in Favor of Health Care Reform

After the presidential address last night on health reform, AARP conducted an overnight nationwide survey of people 45 years and older, and found that the president's speech caused a change in many Independents who were largely unsure about health care reform.

While most independents had concerns and questions about current health care reform proposals, last night's speech resulted in a majority being "more supportive of the proposals being talked about related to health care." More from our press release:

"In a national survey of Americans over 45, AARP found that many independents had concerns about health reform coming into last night's speech (77 percent), but most (72 percent) felt that some of their concerns were addressed by the President's speech. Further, a clear majority of independents considered themselves 'more supportive of the proposals being talked about related to health care' after the speech was over (63 percent).

'What we saw in this survey was something we've seen for decades: that once you explain why we need reform people understand its importance,' said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President. 'Last night's speech wasn't as much of a 'game changer' as it was a volume softener. Older Americans across the political spectrum continue to agree that reform must be accomplished this year - we are hopeful that momentum carries us to reform that AARP can support.'

When asked if after watching the health reform address people felt that reform should be a priority for our leaders to address this year, 70 percent of Independents, 95 percent of Democrats and a majority of Republicans - 56 percent - agreed it should."

Check out all info from the survey here.