Hopeful, Scared and Just Plain Confused on Health Care Reform

The Kaiser Family Foundation’s August tracking poll found that a slim majority
of Americans continues to favor moving forward on health care
reform despite “an intensifying ad war and a political climate of
contentious town hall meetings that coincide with rising concerns
about the reform effort.” Fifty-three percent of the public
believes that tackling health reform is more important than ever,
compared to 42 percent who say we cannot afford to take on health
care reform right now. The gap between those points of view has
narrowed as criticisms and doubts about reform plans register,
researchers said. According to the poll, conducted Aug. 4-11, 63
percent of the public say they are “hopeful” about reform, 41
percent are “afraid” and 46 percent are simply “confused.”