Support for Government Health Insurance Requirements Plummets

Strong negative opinions of the new health-care law are at their level highest yet as opposition to the government requiring every insurance plan to cover the exact same set of medical procedures grows.

A new Rasmussen Reports poll found 40 percent of likely U.S. voters now have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of the health care law, while 56 percent view it at least somewhat unfavorably.

Those opposed to the law have stronger opinions -- only 19 percent view the law very favorably, while 47 percent have a very unfavorable view of the law.

Unfavorables are down slightly from 58 percenttwo weeks ago,while favorable reviews are up 4 points, but the number with a very unfavorable impression is at its highest level measured to date.

Just 33 percent of all voters still believe the government should require every health insurance plan to cover the exact same set of procedures, which is down from 36 percent in early November and the lowest level of support measured.Forty-three percent now oppose this government requirement, up from 40 percent in November and the highest level measured this year.

Twenty-four percent are undecided.

Seventy-three percent believe individuals should have the right to choose between different types of health insurance plans, including some that cost more and cover just about all medical procedures and some that cost less while covering only major medical procedures.Even more voters -- 83 percent -- think individuals should have the right to choose between different types of health insurance plans, including some with higher deductibles and lower premiums and others with lower deductibles and higher premiums.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Dec. 6-7. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.