51% See Free Market As Better Way To Reduce Health Care Costs

While support for repeal of the national health care law has fallen to its lowest level yet, most voters still believe free market competition rather than more government is the better way to reduce the cost of health care in America.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 51% of Likely Voters say free market competition between insurance companies will do more to bring down health care costs than more government regulation.  Thirty-one percent (31%) disagree and feel increased government regulation is the better way to go.  Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Still, the number of voters who favor free market competition is down 15 points from late October 2009, when two-out-of-three voters (66%) felt that way.

Republican Congressman Paul Ryan's long-term budget-cutting plan features a radical reworking of Medicare that includes the creation of health insurance exchanges that he contends would drive down prices due to free market competition. But opposition to Ryan's budget plan is growing.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 29-30, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.