Majority back Obama on health care reform: poll

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A majority of Americans are in favor of having a public, or government-run, option in the US health care system as proposed by President Barack Obama, a poll showed Tuesday.

Fifty-two percent of 2,276 US adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive between July 9 and 13 said they were in favor of a government-run health plan, while just 30 percent were against.

Obama has pledged to overhaul the US health care system. He and most Democratic lawmakers want to introduce a public coverage option, while many Republican members of Congress and some conservative Democrats are against the idea.

Nearly seven in 10 Americans told Harris Interactive that a government-run plan would be a valuable alternative to private insurance; more than six in 10 thought it would help keep insurance costs down and 55 percent said it would allow patients to get better care.

Arguments against the plan found less backing from the poll respondents.

A majority -- 55 percent -- did say they thought the plan would reduce the freedom of patients to choose doctors and treatments, as some opponents argue.

However, only a shade fewer -- 54 percent -- rejected the assertion that a public option smacked too much of socialism, and 56 percent rejected the idea that it would drive insurance companies out of business.

Obama said during a series of townhall style meetings last month that he was not seeking government-run, socialized medicine, as his critics have claimed.

But he also noted that a bill reforming the American health care system -- under which tens of millions have no coverage -- is unlikely to become law before the US autumn......