Fifty-Four Percent of Americans Believe Health Care Reform Will Not Be Passed...( Government-run Health C...),Health

Government-run Health Care and Increased Taxes Top List of Concerns

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the heels of the new $856 billion health care bill proposed yesterday by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, doubt over health care reform passing this year still looms across the American public. Fifty-four percent of U.S. adults surveyed believe health care reform will not pass this year compared to 41 percent who do, according to the results of a new Deloitte Center for Health Solutions study.

While many doubt legislation will pass, those surveyed who watched President Barack Obama's address last week (44 percent versus 55 percent who did not watch) were inclined to agree (68 percent) versus disagree (30 percent) with the components of the President's reform plan.

"Consumers are at a crossroads and while the majority of Americans surveyed (84 percent) believe some form of change is needed, many are confused by the complexity of the system and often default to their own personal experience with the system rather than look at the functionality of the entire system," said Paul Keckley, Ph.D. and executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. "Interestingly, respondents said they trust physicians and health care providers (37 percent) the most when it comes to reforming the health care system, followed by the White House (21 percent), Congress (13 percent), employers (11 percent) and health insurance companies (7 percent)."

Concern over the government running health care was a common theme throughout the survey results. Sixty-one percent of respondents believe that Congress is likely to make the health care situation worse than better, and 55 percent thought government solutions to health care will ultimately cost more and deliver less compared to private sector solutions. Additionally, while the econom
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