These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
Over the past week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found a way to collect 60 votes and move health care reform legislation forward in the U.S. Senate. However, his negotiating and the ongoing debate did nothing to improve public opinion of the legislation.
The latest Rasmussen Reports weekly tracking update shows that 41% of voters nationwide favor the bill and 55% are opposed. Those figures are essentially unchanged from a week ago . This the fifth straight week with support for the legislation between 38% and 41%.
Among senior citizens, the group most likely to use the health care system, just 33% are in favor while 60% are opposed. Most adults under 30 favor the plan, but majorities of every other age group take the opposite view.
The intensity remains with those who oppose the legislation. Just 19% Strongly Favor the plan while 45% are Strongly Opposed.
Polling released last week showed that 57% of voters say passing nothing would be preferable to passing the current legislation. Most voters (54%) believe they personally will be worse off if the legislation passes .
Fifty-three percent (53%) of voters believe that passage of the legislation will lead to a lower quality of care, and 58% say it will drive the cost of care up.
Despite the unpopularity of the legislation, 49% of voters think it is at least somewhat likely to become law this year.
The health care bill is one factor creating a challenging mid-term election cycle for Democrats. Several Democrats in the House have announced that they are retiring rather than running again next year, and the bill seems to be taking an early toll on Reid's chances for reelection . The Nevada Democrat now trails three potential GOP challengers in a state where opposition to the plan has been stronger than in other parts of the country.
Democratic incumbents also trail in Connecticut , Pennsylvania, North Dakota and Colorado . Other states featuring potentially competitive races include Illinois , Ohio and Missouri .
Republicans enjoy a modest lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot.
The debate over health care reform also has dragged down President Obama's ratings in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll .
Democrats, whose legislators control both the House and Senate, continue to be the big supporters of the health care plan. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of those in the president's party favor it. Eighty percent (80%) of Republicans and 64% of voters not affiliated with either party oppose the plan.
Democrats consistently have rated health care reform as the most important of the priorities listed by the president early in his term . Republicans and unaffiliateds say cutting the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term is the president's highest priority.
Forty-seven percent (47%) of voters nationwide trust the private sector more than government to keep health care costs down and the quality of care up . Two-thirds (66%) say an increase in free market competition will do more than government regulation to reduce health care costs.
Forty-seven percent (47%) also believe that restricting jury awards for medical malpractice lawsuits will significantly reduce the cost of health care in the United States, but the plan working its way through Congress does not include limits on such lawsuits.