Americans are now closely divided over the proposed health care reform plan following President Obama’s speech to Congress Wednesday night, although a plurality of voters are still opposed. All of the gains have come from Democrats, but the president has rallied his base and generated a significant increase in enthusiasm among supporters of the plan.

New Rasmussen Reports national polling - conducted over the two nights following the speech - shows that 47% of Americans now favor the plan proposed by the president and congressional Democrats. That’s up from 43% at the end of August and from 44% earlier this week.

Forty-nine percent (49%) of voter remain opposed to the plan, but it marks the first time opposition has fallen below 50% in weeks.

Rasmussen Reports will continue tracking support for the proposals on a daily basis over the next several days and will release new updates each morning at 9 EDT.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of voters now Strongly Favor the plan while 39% are Strongly Opposed. Those figures also represent an improvement from late August when just 23% were strongly in favor of the plan and 43% were strongly opposed.

Another measure of the speech's impact is found in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll. Early indications are that Obama has received a modest personal bounce in his approval ratings. In considering the impact of a speech, however, it’s important to remember than only about 15% of Americans watched the speech. Most learned about it from the news coverage of the past several days.

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The gain in overall support for the plan comes entirely from Democrats. Eighty-four percent (84%) of those in the President’s party now support the health care plan, up from 72% earlier in the week. Support among Republicans is unchanged while support among those not affiliated with either major party has fallen.

Premium Members can see full demographic crosstabs for results released today, yesterday, Thursday and, for comparison, in late August.

Fifty-two percent (52%) now say that health care reform is at least somewhat likely to pass this year. That’s up from 47% earlier in the week.

If the plan passes, 28% of voters say the quality of care will get better and 46% say it will get worse. In August, the numbers were 23% better and 50% worse.

Forty-seven percent (47%) say passage of the plan will make the cost of health care go up while 23% say it will make costs go down. In August, 52% thought the plan would lead to higher costs, and only 17% thought it would achieve the stated goal of lowering costs.

Friday night, in response to questions raised about coverage of undocumented workers in the proposed health care reform, the White House issued a clarification of its position. Eighty-three percent (83%) of voters say proof of citizenship should be required to get government health care benefits.

Other recent polling prior to the president's speech shows that most people with insurance say it’s likely they would be forced to change coverage if the plan passes. Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, highlighted the significance of this issue in a recent Wall Street Journal column: “The most important fundamental is that 68% of American voters have health-insurance coverage they rate good or excellent … Most of these voters approach the health-care reform debate fearing that they have more to lose than to gain.”

Voters overwhelmingly believe that every American should be able to buy the same health insurance plan that Congress has. Most favor limits on jury awards for medical malpractice claims and think that tort reform will significantly reduce the cost of health care.

Rasmussen Reports on Wednesday provided a summary of public opinion on health care reform leading up to the speech.

Nationally televised appearances by the president have typically provided a bounce in the polls that last for a week or two. In all cases but one, the bounce has been positive for the president. Following a nationally televised press conference in August, he received a negative bounce when he commented on an incident involving a black Harvard professor and a white Cambridge policeman. Still, even following that press conference which was intended to promote the health care plan, the president’s appearance temporarily improved support for the reform legislation.

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