Forty-three percent (43%) of U.S. voters say the quality of health care in America will get worse if a government-run health insurance plan is created to compete with private plans.

Thirty-three percent (33%) say quality will get better, and 10% say it will stay the same, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Fifteen percent (15%) aren’t sure.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of voters say it is better to expand coverage through private health insurance plans than through government-run programs like Medicaid. Thirty-five percent (35%) believe the opposite to be true, with 17% not sure.

In a survey last April, just 29% of American adults supported a national health insurance program overseen by the Federal Government.

Only 39% believe Congress is at least somewhat likely to pass health care legislation this year, with 11% saying it is Very Likely. Seventeen percent (17%) think it is not at all likely.

While 51% of voters say the U.S. health care system is too often unavailable to those in need, just 36% favor a government-controlled health plan for the uninsured if it means an increase in their income taxes.

Fifty percent (50%) are opposed to such a plan for those who cannot get insurance if it means a tax increase, and 14% are undecided.

Thirty-three percent (33%) of voters do not believe the health care system is too often unavailable to those in need, with 16% not sure.

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An estimated 46 million Americans, or about 15 percent of the population, have no health insurance. President-elect Obama proposes a National Health Insurance Exchange through which small businesses and individuals could buy insurance from government-approved private providers or from the government itself. All applicants would be eligible for a policy.

The government-funded health insurance plan, which Democratic supporters say would drive health care costs down, would compete with private insurers. The insurance industry and many Republicans argue, however, that the government-run plan would have an unfair advantage and is more likely to drive them out of business.

Last month 46% of voters said the quality of health care will decrease if the government oversees a national health plan.

Fifty-two percent (52%) of Democrats say the quality of health care will get better if a government-run plan is created to compete with private insurance plans, while 70% of Republicans believe the quality will get worse. Unaffiliated voters by a 19-point margin believe it will get worse.

Younger voters are much more confident about the benefits from a government-run plan than older voters.

Democrats, with enlarged majorities in both the House and Senate, also are more optimistic about the passage of health care reform legislation. Forty-nine percent (49%) of Democrats say it is somewhat likely, compared to 30% of GOP voters and 31% of unaffiliateds. Twelve percent (12%) of Democrats and Republicans say it’s Very Likely, but just seven percent (7%) of unaffiliated voters agree.

A majority of U.S. voters (58%), however, oppose any kind of government-controlled health plan if it means they have to change their own insurance coverage.

Perhaps Democrats feel greater urgency for reform legislation since 73% of them say the U.S. health care system is too often unavailable to those in need. A majority of Republicans (51%) disagree, while unaffiliated voters are much more closely divided on the question.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Democratic voters say it is better to expand insurance coverage through government-run programs like Medicaid, but only 16% of Republicans and 26% of unaffiliated agree. Seventy-one percent (71%) of Republicans and 52% of unaffiliated voters say it is better to expand coverage through private health insurance plans, a view shared by 25% of Democrats.

Sixty percent (60%) of Democrats support a government-controlled health plan for those who cannot get insurance even if it means an increase in their personal income taxes. Seventy-five percent (75%) of Republicans and 56% of unaffiliated voters do not.

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