Health Care Reform - Rasmussen Reports™

Health Care Reform
41% Support Health Care Legislation, 53% Oppose

Monday, November 30, 2009

The U.S. Senate is now formally beginning debate on a plan to reform health care in America, but most voters remain opposed to the plan working its way through Congress.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 41% of voters nationwide favor the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats.
Fifty-three percent (53%) are opposed to it. Those figures include 22% who Strongly Favor the plan and 40% who are Strongly Opposed.

Support for the legislation is up three percentage points from a week ago. However, last week’s results were the lowest level of support ever recorded for the plan. With the exception of a few days following nationally televised presidential appeals for the legislation, the number of voters opposed to the plan has always exceeded the number who favor it.

While advocates say the plan is needed to control the cost of health care, 56% of voters now say it will have the opposite impact and push prices even higher. Just 17% believe passage of the plan will lead to lower costs.

Fifty percent (50%) believe passage of the legislation will lead to a lower quality of care while just 18% believe the care will get better.

Rasmussen Reports is continuing to track public opinion on the health care plan on a weekly basis, with updated findings released each Monday morning.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

Providing the background for the health care debate, 49% now rate the U.S. health care system as good or excellent. That’s a dramatic improvement over the past year-and-a-half. As the debate in Congress has gone on, confidence in the current system has grown. Still, 53% believe that our health care system needs major changes. Sixty-two percent (62%) believe that the biggest problem with the system is the cost of care.

Despite the concerns of voters, 49% believe that health care legislation is at least somewhat likely to pass in Congress this year while 40% say passage is not likely.

However, just 12% say it’s Very Likely to pass, and only nine percent (9%) say it’s Not at All Likely to pass. That leaves the vast majority of Americans less certain about the fate of the legislation.

Among the nation’s senior citizens, 35% favor the health care plan and 57% are opposed (Premium Members can see full demographic crosstabs).

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