Voters overwhelmingly want to see last yearís health care law changed, but there is substantial disagreement about how best to do it.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 75% of Likely U.S. Voters want to change the law, while only 18% want it left alone. Those figures include 20% who want the law repealed and nothing done to replace it, 28% who want it repealed and then have its most popular provisions put into a new law and 27% who say leave the law in place but get rid of the unpopular provisions.

It is worth noting that a majority (55%) take one of the middle ground approachesórepeal and replace or leave it and improve. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Overall, 48% take an approach that starts with repeal. Thatís lower than support for repeal measured generally in Rasmussen Reports weekly tracking polls on the subject.  It is likely that some people who prefer repeal when there are no other options for change are drawn to the idea of leaving the law in place and removing the unpopular provisions.

Just after Election Day in early November, 52% of voters said Congress should review the health care bill piece by piece and keep the parts it likes.  Thirty-nine percent (39%) disagreed and said Congress should scrap the whole bill and start all over again.

The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted on January 11-12, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Most Republicans and unaffiliated voters prefer to start with repeal. Most Democrats prefer to start by leaving the law in place. Republicans are fairly evenly divided between repealing the law and doing nothing or repealing the law and putting its popular provisions into a new law. Democrats are fairly evenly divided between leaving the law alone or starting with the existing law and removing the unpopular provisions.

Not surprisingly, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives favors starting with repeal, while the Democratic-controlled Senate prefers to start by leaving the existing law in place and possibly considering improvements.

Most government workers prefer to start with the existing law in place, while most entrepreneurs prefer to start with repeal. Those who work for others in the private sector are more evenly divided. Most voters under 30 prefer to start with the existing law in place, while most over 50 prefer to start with repeal.

From the beginning, polling has shown that some portions of the law are popular. However, the cost and means of paying for the law are unpopular as is the individual mandate. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the law will increase government spending but reduce the deficit. Most voters believe the program will cost more than projected and increase the federal budget deficit.

The majority of voters oppose the requirement in the new law that every American must buy or obtain health insurance.

Voters with insurance are evenly divided on whether the new law will force them to change their own insurance coverage
Source: Rasmussen Reports

California Hospitals Face Rising Costs for Health Benefits

California hospitals have seen an increase recently in the cost of providing health coverage to their employees, according to a new survey by the insurance brokerage firm Keenan & Associates, Payers & Providers reports.
Of the hospitals that participated in the survey, 54% reported offering full health care benefits to their employees.

Rising Costs

Between 2009 and 2010, health care coverage costs for California hospitals rose by 9% among those offering HMO and PPO plans and by 11% among those offering point-of-service plans, according to the survey.
Fewer than half of the 94 hospital organizations and 231 hospitals that participated in the survey said they expect to fully absorb the higher health coverage costs anticipated this year.
Financial Pressure

Although the health coverage cost increases experienced by hospitals are on par with other industries, hospital officials say their facilities are under significant financial pressure to shift costs and reduce spending. Of the hospitals surveyed:
73% said they intend to increase payroll deductions to offset rising health coverage costs; and 66% said they plan to increase copayments and deductibles for their employees.

Some hospitals also are working to reduce their employee benefit expenditures by offering health-related programs. Nearly three-quarters of the hospitals surveyed said they offer some form of disease-management program, while 70% reported offering employee risk-assessment programs (Payers & Providers, 1/20).

For more information visit: http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2011/1/20/california-hospitals-face-rising-costs-for-health-benefits-survey-finds.aspx#ixzz1BbJtDPsr