The Poll Rundown
Texas Watch—September 8th, 2010
Yesterday, we released our statewide poll showing strong support across all partisan, ideological, and geographic boundaries for comprehensive homeowners insurance reform among voters in our state. The poll also found the governor’s race is a dead heat and that 74% of voters are more likely to support candidates that back reforms like prior approval of rates, tougher penalties for companies that engage in abusive claims handling, and providing consumers with uniform policies to encourage price competition. Here’s a sampling of the news clips.
And now for something completely different: Rick Perry and Bill White are virtually tied in the race for governor, according to a poll done for Texas Watch by Republican pollster Hill Research Consultants. [...]
On their own issues, they found that voters think insurance rates are too high and think the state’s regulation of that industry favors insurers over the people who buy insurance. Most Texans — 84 percent — think the state’s insurance commissioner should be elected rather than appointed, and 73 percent think companies should have to get the state’s approval before rates can go up.
The poll today from Hill Research Consultants casts the governor’s race in a new light. It shows Perry with a one point lead, 42-41. The poll is somewhat eccentric since the ballot test is secondary to the main thrust of the poll, which is to examine Texans’ attitude on insurance reform issues and how they might affect the governor’s race. The Hill firm did a previous poll on the subject of insurance reform before the 2009 legislative session. The poll showed that Texans’ favored such reforms as an elected insurance commissioner. [...]
I believe that prior approval would make a difference. Under the current “file and use” rules, companies can file rates and start collecting premium income immediately. Under “prior approval,” the insurance commissioner would first determine whether the rates are fair and reasonable. Only if he answered in the affirmative would the rates be allowed to take effect. Under “file and use,” rates would take effect immediately. Consumers could challenge the rates, but the process would end up in court. Companies could rake in the money during the time the case was being tried. Only if the rates were determined to be too high would consumers be able to get refunds, and only then after companies had been raking in the profits from the excessive rates. The consumers lose the float. It doesn’t take a genius to see which method is more consumer-friendly.
Houston Chronicle/San Antonio Express-News
A pair of polls released Tuesday showed Gov. Rick Perry’s re-election bid had slipped toward a statistical tie with Democrat Bill White, but both surveys may have reflected more of a short-term Democratic attack than a shift in the race. [...]
The Texas Watch poll was conducted by Hill Research Consultants of The Woodlands, a Republican firm. The survey of 600 registered voters was done Aug. 25-29 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The survey found 73 percent of Texas voters favor insurance reform requiring companies to obtain prior approval from state regulators before raising rates, a reform promoted by White. Currently, companies can raise rates that are subject to state review, and some companies have refused to lower rates when told to do so.
A new poll out today shows the Texas governor’s race in a virtual dead heat. The poll from Hill Research Consultants has Governor Rick Perry leading former Houston Mayor Bill White 42-percent to 41-percent. Other polls this summer have shown the two-term incumbent with much larger leads. [...]
Other than the governor’s race, Texas Watch also used the poll to highlight what the group feels is a need for legislation to help regulate home insurance rates. The poll showed the majority of all voters surveyed – Democrat, Republican, other – in favor of tighter controls on the home insurance market.
A new poll conducted by the GOP polling firm Hill Research Consultants on behalf of insurance industry watchdog group Texas Watch has a startling number in the Governor’s Race: Rick Perry 42, Bill White 41.
That’s pretty different from other recent polls where Perry has a bigger lead. We looked at the questionnaire and the preference question is a straight up horse race question with no candidate statements read beforehand that could influence the response. [...]
The survey also finds strong support for a slate of insurance reforms touted by Texas Watch, including prior approval (74 percent approve strongly or somewhat), direct election of the Insurance Commissioner (84 percent approve strongly or somewhat), prohibiting the use of credit ratings in charging higher prices or denying coverage (52 percent approve strongly or somewhat), requiring insurance companies to offer standard policies written in plain language (85 percent approve strongly or somewhat) and giving consumers more legal option against insurance companies (78 percent approve strongly or somewhat).
The pollsters found that backing these options would make the respondents more likely to vote for their preferred candidates, regardless of party affiliation. Eighty-one percent of White voters said they would be more likely to vote for their guy if he embraced this set of insurance reforms while 71 percent of Perry voters said they he would be more likely to vote for the Governor if he pushed these proposals.
Polls are like Texas weather: if you don’t like it, just wait a few minutes and it’ll change. Enter the Texas Watch Poll, a self proclaimed “non-partisan, advocacy organization working to improve consumer and insurance protections for Texas families.” Their polling shows Gov. Rick Perry slightly ahead with 42 percent toBill White’s 41 percent. Fourteen percent of people polled were undecided. The margin of error was +/- 4 percent.
