President Obama’s health care summit last week seems to have nudged up support, but 52% of U.S. voters continue to oppose the plan proposed by the president and congressional Democrats.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 44% favor the plan, up three points from last week just before the summit and the highest level of support recorded since mid-November.

But passion remains on the side of the opponents: just 22% Strongly Favor the plan while 43% Strongly Oppose it.

Since Thanksgiving, overall support for the president’s health care plan has ranged from 38 % to 44% while opposition has run from a low of 51% to a high of 58%.

Seventy-six percent (76%) of those with insurance now rate their own coverage as good or excellent. The fact that most Americans are comfortable with their own insurance coverage has proven to be a major obstacle for advocates of reform because 49% of insured Americans say it’s at least somewhat likely that the plan before Congress could force them to change their own coverage.

Voters overall are now evenly divided over whether the health care plan will pass Congress this year. Forty-four percent (44%) say the plan is likely to become law this year. That’s up six points from a week ago when just 38% thought passage was likely, the lowest level of confidence in the bill’s passage to date. The new finding includes 18% who say passage is very likely.

But another 44% believe passage of the health plan is unlikely, with 31% who say it’s not very likely and 13% who say it’s not at all likely. Twelve percent (12%) more are not sure.

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Just 25% say the quality of health care will improve if the health care reform plan is passed, but that’s the highest finding since the end of October. Forty-eight percent (48%) believe quality will get worse, only the second time in five months that this view has fallen below 50%. Twenty percent (20%) now say quality will stay the same.

Most voters (52%) continue to believe that the cost of health care will go up if the plan passes into law, but this is down from a high of 63% at the end of last year as the Senate rushed to pass its version of the plan. Only 17% think the plan will achieve its stated goal of pushing health care costs down. Twenty-four percent (24%) say costs will remain the same.

Women are stronger supporters of the health care plan than men. Support is lowest among those ages 65 and older.

Democrats overwhelmingly support the health care plan, while Republicans even more overwhelmingly oppose it. A plurality (43%) of voters not affiliated with either party Strongly Oppose the plan. Support has gone up among both Democrats and unaffiliateds since mid-January when Rasmussen Reports suspended weekly tracking of these health care questions after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she did not have the voters to pass the plan.

Voters continue to be closely divided on the creation of a government-run health insurance option. But opposition increases dramatically if its creation might force people to change their existing coverage.

Still, a solid plurality of Democrats believe it would be good for workers if they were forced off their private insurance plan and on to a government program. Republicans and unaffiliated voters disagree.

The president’s reform initiative appears to have generated improved perceptions of the U.S. health care system which helps to explain why voters are divided about the need for reform. Forty-four percent (44%) rate the U.S. health care system as good or excellent. That’s up from 35% when the president first proposed his reform ideas last May and up from 29% two years ago.

Last month, prior to the president’s summit meeting, 61% of voters said Congress should scrap his proposed health care plan and start all over again.

Sixty-three percent (63%) say a better strategy to reform the health care system would be to pass smaller bills that address problems individually. Twenty-seven percent (27%) still think passing a comprehensive bill that covers all aspects of the health care system is a better idea.

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