Government
Most Americans still want health system reform
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 31, 2009
The majority of Americans continue to support health system reform, despite a narrowing approval margin and contentious town hall meetings, according to a monthly survey released Aug. 20 by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Fifty-three percent of the public believes that addressing health reform is more important than ever, compared with 42% who say the issue should not be tackled right now. Similarly, 45% of Americans continue to believe the country as a whole would be better off if Congress passed health reform, while 34% disagree. Just one month ago, however, 51% were for reform while 23% opposed it.
Kaiser's August health tracking poll was conducted Aug. 4 through Aug. 11, a period when some politically active members of the public voiced negative feelings on congressional reform efforts during a series of widely publicized town hall meetings, the organization noted.
Substantial majorities continue to say they support individual reform components designed to expand coverage, including a public plan option (59%), an expansion of state programs such as Medicaid (80%), an individual insurance mandate (68%) and an employer insurance mandate (68%), Kaiser reported.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/08/31/gvbf0831.htm.
