Poll Shows Voters Want New Health Care Effort

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans overwhelmingly want the president and Congress to get to work on a new bill to change the health care system if the Supreme Court strikes down President Barack Obama’s 2010 overhaul as unconstitutional, a new poll finds.

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A new health care bill doesn’t seem to be in either party’s plans on the verge of the high court’s verdict on the law aimed at extending health insurance to more than 30 million Americans who now lack coverage. Republicans say they will try to repeal whatever’s left of the law after the high court rules and then wait at least until after the November elections to push replacement measures. Democrats say Obama will push to put in place whatever survives.

But an Associated Press-GfK poll shows that more than three-fourths of Americans do not want their political leaders to leave the health care system alone in the event the court throws out the health care law.

Large majorities of both opponents and backers of the law share the view that Congress and the president should undertake a new effort. The lowest level of support for new health care legislation comes from people who identify themselves as strong supporters of the tea party. Even in that group, though, nearly 60 percent favor work on a new bill.

Gary Hess, a Republican from Discovery Bay, Calif., wants the high court to throw out the entire law.

But Hess, 77, said he favors the provision requiring insurance companies to cover people regardless of their medical condition. “There needs to be compromise on both sides,” the retired school administrator said.

Garrett Chase, 51, said he hopes the court leaves the law in place but agreed with Hess that the politicians should get back to work if this law is struck down. “I live in the ghetto, and I see people dying every day,” said Chase, an unemployed car salesman from Baltimore. “They can’t get help because they can’t afford it.”

The call for new legislation comes even as just a third of Americans support the landmark health care law. The overall level of support for the law is relatively unchanged in recent months, with 47 percent opposing it. But among independents, only 21 percent approve of the law, a new low in AP-GfK polling.

Most of the law’s major changes have yet to take effect, including the requirement that most people have health insurance or pay a penalty. The insurance mandate has been among the least popular aspects of the law. Provisions that have gone into effect include extended coverage for young adults on their parents’ insurance and relief for seniors with high prescription drug costs.