Americans fear healthcare overhaul

President Obama

Results released today from a December poll by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that many American's fear President Barack Obama's healthcare reform.

The poll, conducted between 28 November and 20 December last year, measured consumers' views of how a remake would affect their own finances and access to care, among other things. The results found that 33 percent of Americans said they believe their access tohealthcare will get worse if an overhaul occurs.

That figure is a significant leap from the 25 percent figure from a similar poll in the previous month. More than 30 percent said their personal finances will suffer under a new system, Press TV reports.

In addition, some 35 percent of the respondents said the country's access to healthcare would be worse under a healthcare overhaul, compared to a 30 percent figure last month. Around 38 percent of the participants said it would be better, which is a similar figure from previous polls conducted the month before.

"I don't know that it's all that surprising that people are nervous about healthcare reform," said Brian Quinn, a researcher at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropic organization that supports healthcare reform to Yahoo News. "Healthcare is an incredibly personal issue and clearly there's a lack of understanding about what healthcare reform would do."

Thrown into doubt

President Obama's planned overhaul of the healthcare system in the US was thrown into turmoil last week when a Republican candidate - Scott Brown won in the Massachusetts special senate race, robbing the Democrats of their absolute majority in the chamber.

The Democratic bills would require all Americans to carry health insurance, with government help to make premiums more affordable. The bills would ban insurance companies from denying coverage or charging more to people with health problems. They would set up new insurance markets for those who now have the hardest time finding and keeping coverage - self-employed people and small businesses.

The election left Democrats in Congress scrambling to salvage a bill overhauling the nation's healthcare system. Mr. Brown has vowed to oppose the bill, and once he takes office the Democrats will no longer control the 60 votes in the Senate needed to overcome filibusters.

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