Most Americans who have health insurance are pleased with their coverage, a new national Franklin & Marshall College poll shows.
But many of those same people are worried about those who can't afford insurance, and overwhelmingly believe the health care system needs to be reformed, according to a survey of 920 adults shows.
READ: Summary of findings of Franklin & Marshall College poll
"Americans want change, providing that in covering the 30 million people the government doesn't seriously disrupt people's own coverage and potentially interfere with their ability to see their own doctor," poll director G. Terry Madonna said.
The survey found that 75 percent of Americans who have insurance rate their coverage as good or very good — the same percentage who believe the health-care system is in need of reform.
"They are sympathetic and favor covering the 30 million people who don't have insurance," Madonna said. "Even though the large percentage of people haven't been denied coverage, they favor reforms."
The findings suggest, however, that health care reform plans proposed by President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats are too far-reaching for some.
A majority of those surveyed — 59 percent — believes the health care reform bills being considered by Congress will make major changes to the country's health care system.
But they are divided over whether the proposals are good for the country. Those surveyed also were split when asked if they were pleased or displeased that a health care reform bill has not been enacted.
"I still think the fundamental problem was when they tried to remake the entire system instead of expanding the programs incrementally to cover the people who aren't covered," Madonna said.
"It's a classic overreach," he said.
Nearly one in four Americans skipped a doctor-ordered medical test or deferred treatment in the past year because they couldn't afford to pay for it, the F&M poll found.
And about one in five said they couldn't pay for prescription drugs, get the medical attention they needed or lacked insurance.
The numbers are not startling to those who work with the uninsured.
"It's an indication that the system needs to be fixed," said Jim Kelly, executive director of SouthEast Lancaster Health Services, a city clinic that sees Medicaid and low-income patients. "We need to do a better job of getting people the care that they need."
Locally, the two-year-old program Project Access of Lancaster County provides free medical care to residents who do not qualify for other insurance programs and who meet certain financial guidelines.
Those who were most likely to be thankful that reform has not advanced, according to the poll, are Americans earning more than $75,000 per year, whites and Republicans.
More members of those groups who were surveyed believe they would be worse off than better off if the reform bills now being discussed in Congress are passed.
The poll was conducted between Feb. 2 and Monday at F&M's Center for Opinion Research. The margin of error is 3.2 percentage points.
While the poll lends support to Obama's call for fixing the health care system, it also puts the issue in perspective: Americans' greatest concern nowadays isn't health care, but the economy and keeping their jobs.
Sixty-four percent of those surveyed identified the economy and their personal finances as the most important problem their families face, while 11 percent said health care.