Americans were evenly divided about the two bills in Congress, with 42 percent supporting them, 41 percent opposing them and 16 percent withholding judgment.
A narrow majority (52 percent of respondents) agreed that it is more important than ever to take on health reform.
A majority of those polled said the following provisions made them more supportive of the legislation:
* tax credits to small businesses that offer employee coverage (73 percent);
* health insurance exchanges (67 percent);
* a ban on denial of coverage because of pre-existing conditions (63 percent);
* closing the Medicare “doughnut hole” so that seniors would no longer have to pay the full cost of prescriptions for a set period (60 percent).
Even a majority of opponents of the bills supported several provisions, such as:
* tax credits for small businesses (62 percent);
* preservation of existing insurance arrangements (59 percent);
* no federal funds for abortion (55 percent).
However, a majority of all of those polled said other provisions made their support less likely:
* requirements to buy health insurance (62 percent);
* a total cost of $871 billion over 10 years (51 percent).
Support of the health reforms varied widely by party:
* 64 percent of Democrats support them;
* 76 percent of Republicans oppose them;
* 41 percent of independents support the reforms and 43 percent oppose them.
Read Kaiser Family Foundation’s report on health reform.
