With the mid-term elections coming up in November, the news that public support for health care reform has dropped in August has congressional Democrats trying to stem the tide.
According to the most recent tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, support for the legislation dropped from 50 percent in July to 43 percent in August. This represents where public opinion stood back in May, even though Obama"s administration has been promoting the benefits of recent changes to Medicare and health insurance plans.
Many experts are unsure how much it will affect the election as people may be more concerned over unemployment and the lagging economy. Voters listed the economy as their first concern with health care and immigration right behind.
While Americans change their stance on health care reform, the federal government and many health care advocacy groups have been trying to win voters over.
Earlier this week Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, “Unfortunately there still is a great deal of confusion about what is in (health care reform) and what isn"t… We have a lot of re-education to do.”
Still some could argue that public opinion over health care reform has declined because more people have become educated about what is in the bill. As changes to reform are made and health insurance costs continue to rise — public opposition could grow.