Poll: Majority favors public option

MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Fifty-seven percent of the U.S. public say they favor the creation of a "government-administered public health insurance option," a tracking poll indicates.

The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll for October found support for the public option dips to 32 percent when initial supporters are told such plans "could give the government plan an unfair advantage over private insurance companies."

Alternatively, support for the public plan rises to 65 percent when initial opponents are told public plans would be "a fallback that would only kick in if not enough people had affordable health plans available through the private marketplace."

Fifty-three percent of Americans say they continue to believe reform would be beneficial to the country as a whole, while 41 percent say it would leave their own family better off and 27 percent say they think health reform would leave their family worse off.

Fifty-five percent of Americans said they believe it is more important than ever to take on healthcare reform now, while 41 percent say the country cannot afford it right now -- essentially unchanged from September.

The telephone survey of 1,200 U.S. adults was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.