Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas continues to post the results of Research 2000 polls commissioned by Daily Kos that test support for a misleadingly defined public option.

The survey asks respondents: “Do you favor or oppose creating a government-administered health insurance option that anyone can purchase to compete with private insurance plans?”

This language does not accurately reflect the reality of the public option as it’s being debated in Congress. I noted on Aug. 24 that the public option in the House bill, which has strong progressive support, would not be available to everyone. The problem is, Markos has continually suggested the poll question gauges support for “the Public Option.”

For instance, Markos writes today that the results of polls of four Blue Dog districts show that “none of these four [Representatives] are on solid electoral footing, none have positive ratings on health care, and all would suffer electoral harm (to varying degrees) by opposing the Public Option.”

Ezra Klein wrote two weeks ago:

“The strongest public plan on offer is in the bill being considered by the House of Representatives. This plan is limited to the health insurance exchanges, which are in turn limited to employers with fewer than 20 workers. So that’s the first point: The vast majority of Americans would be ineligible for the public plan, even if they wanted it.”

The Congressional Research Service’s July 27 report on the bill states:

“The Exchange would consist of a selection of private plans as well as a public option. Individuals wanting to purchase the public option or a private health insurance not through an employer or a grandfathered nongroup plan could only obtain such coverage through the Exchange. They would only be eligible to enroll in an Exchange plan if they were not enrolled in other acceptable coverage (e.g., from an employer, Medicare, and generally Medicaid).”

I would prefer to see health care legislation include a strong public option, as described by the Research 2000 polls. But the reality is the only public option being considered is a weaker one. It doesn’t help the progressive cause by suggesting that the public option would create a government health insurance plan that anyone can buy.

Case in point:

When Evan cross-posted on Daily Kos his story on OFA’s dropping its demand for a public health insurance option, the disinfector wrote of the petition’s new language:

“the change and it’s a significant one, is that the public option will now only be an option for those who are uninsured.

this is not competition.  clearly, insurers will simply continue to cut benefits and raise costs, confident that, as long as they don’t drop you entirely, you can’t take your business elsewhere.”

“This has been in there for months,” CS in AZ responded. “I can’t believe how many people were/are not aware of this.”

TooFolkGR added, “Community Fault for This.”

If there is a pervasive lack of accurate information about the public option in the Daily Kos community, blame lies at the top.

After all, the community’s leader has regularly contended that “the Public Option” is a “government-administered health insurance option that anyone can purchase [and would] compete with private insurance plans.”

That’s one type of public option; it’s not “the Public Option,” the public option included in President Obama’s plan, or the public option being considered in Congress.