Two new polls show that American support is holding steady and growing on the idea of health reform.
A new study released Tuesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found consumer confidence in healthcare rose sharply in October.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthcare Consumer Confidence Index (RWJF Index) rose to 104.4 points, up from 96.6 in September, RWJF researchers said.
According to the new poll, American concerns about losing their health insurance coverage eased, and Americans said they feel more secure in their ability to obtain and afford future healthcare.
The October reading reflects the most confidence American consumers have had in healthcare since RWJF began tracking in April 2009, researchers said.
Fewer than one in four Americans (23.3 percent) were concerned about losing their health insurance, a drop from the previous month, when one in three Americans (33.4 percent) expressed concern about losing health coverage, the study found.
Additionally, the percentage of Americans who said they were worried about future healthcare costs dropped from 53.2 percent to 43.4 percent.
"During a month when there was considerable momentum around health reform including the passage of a reform bill by the Senate Finance Committee, the American public appears to be more confident about the future of their healthcare," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "Americans of every ideology know that our healthcare system needs to be fixed and want some type of reform."
Also released Tuesday, the November Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found little change over the fall in the proportion of Americans who want healthcare reform now. November results of the Kaiser poll held steady at 58 percent of Americans in favor of healthcare reform now, versus 36 percent who said the country can't afford it.
This month, Kaiser added a new element to it's monthly poll--tracking what the public holds as a top priority in proposed legislation.
Democrats, Republicans and independents ranked availability of affordable plans among the top three priorities.
Republicans and independents ranked deficit neutrality among the top three, while Democrats ranked government aid to the uninsured a top priority, according to the Kaiser study.
Creating a public option ranked near the bottom of this list among all three groups, the study found.
Kaiser's November poll, the eighth in a series designed and analyzed by the Foundation's public opinion survey research team, examined voters' specific healthcare issue interests and experiences and perceptions about healthcare reform, its researcher said.
The RWJF Index is created from data collected by the Surveys of Consumers, with analysis provided by the University of Minnesota's State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), according to its researchers.