Poll: Regardless of Supreme Court ruling, Americans want health care reform

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, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll, out today. Devising a new health care bill doesn’t seem to be in either party’s plans as the high court readies its verdict on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which aims in part 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 until after the November elections to push replacement measures. Democrats say Obama will push to put in place whatever survives. The AP-GfK poll shows that more than three-fourths of Americans do not want their political leaders to leave the U.S. health care system as it is in the event that 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% favor work on a new bill. You can review the complete results of the survey in a 16-page overview here.