New poll reveals continued public confusion about health law, little faith in 'Super Committee'

A second survey, this one from National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, found that public opinion opposes cutting Medicare and Social Security to reduce the deficit, and that this view cuts across partisan lines.

Politico Pro: Another Poll, Another Confused Public
The Kaiser Family Foundation is out Friday with another tracking poll illustrating the big gaps in Americans' knowledge of the health reform law enacted 18 months ago -; including the very people who stand to benefit from some of its key components. This month's poll zeroed in on the half of the population who reported that they or a family member have pre-existing conditions such as heart disease or diabetes. Not only did the survey find that significant numbers of people who fell into this category were unaware of provisions designed specifically to help them get coverage -; high risk pools, guaranteed issue, a ban on lifetime coverage limits -; but the people surveyed knew even less about these relevant aspects of the law than Kaiser had found in previous polls. For instance, 61 percent of those with pre-existing conditions knew that insurers would no longer be able to deny coverage to people on the basis of their medical history, down from 70 percent of all Americans who knew that in June 2010. Similarly, 56 percent knew about the high risk pools, which have now been up and running for more than a year, but back in June 2010, 65 percent of those polled knew the law created them (Kenen, 9/23).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Survey: 'Super Committee' Has Yet To Earn Americans' Trust
Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports: "Americans have little faith the bipartisan congressional 'super committee' will reduce the federal deficit, according to a survey released Friday. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they either trust the super committee 'just a little' or 'not at all' to make the right recommendations to cut the deficit, according to the poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KHN is an editorially-independent program of the foundation). Just 5 percent of respondents said they had 'a great deal' of trust in the committee. More people believe the right recommendations would be made by President Barack Obama (23 percent), Democrats in Congress (13 percent) and Republicans (8 percent)" (Galewitz, 9/22). Check out what else is on Capsules, the blog.

CQ HealthBeat: Poll: Opposition To Medicare, Social Security Cuts Is Bipartisan
Public opinion continues to come down against cutting Medicare and Social Security to reduce the deficit. The latest evidence comes from a new national poll that shows this view cuts across partisan lines. The poll was done for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and conducted by Democratic pollster Celinda Lake and Republican Bob Carpenter. Although a majority of Democrats, independents and Republicans opposed cuts to the two entitlement programs and favored raising taxes on the wealthy to deal with the deficit issue, the GOP respondents held those views by smaller margins (9/22).