Just 33% of Americans favor a national health insurance program, but most are open to ideas that would expand coverage to cover more of the uninsured population. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 55% favor the idea of requiring companies to provide health insurance and 57% favor taxing wealthier Americans to provide coverage for those without insurance.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards (D) has recently advocated these latter concepts as part of his 2008 Presidential campaign. Edwards is currently in third place among Democrats seeking the nomination and tied with Republican frontrunners Rudy Giuliani and John McCain in general election match-ups.

The survey also found that advocates of such plans will have to encounter entrenched taxpayer skepticism about who will bear the cost of such programs. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Americans believe that their own taxes go up even if politicians promise that only the wealthy will pay.

Voters under 30 are more likely than their elders to support all proposals in the survey for expanding health insurance coverage. Forty-somethings are the least supportive.

There is also a significant partisan divide. Republicans oppose national health insurance by a 52% to 21% margin. Democrats tend to favor it (44% to 31%). Those not affiliated with either major party are slightly opposed to national health insurance (43% to 34%).

When it comes to requiring companies to provide health insurance, Republicans are evenly divided while Democrats and unaffiliateds are supportive. A recent Rasmussen Reports survey conducted for the Discover Card Small Business Watch found that most owners of companies with five or fewer employees believe that such mandates would be harmful to their business. Two-thirds (67%) of these small business owners say it is somewhat or very difficult to obtain affordable health insurance for themselves and their employees.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of voters say the nation’s health insurance problems are Very Serious. Another 24% say they are Somewhat Serious.