Health reform poll: Immediate effects not building public support, many getting information from cable news

Politico: "The White House has, for weeks now, rolled out popular health reform benefits well ahead of schedule, items like coverage for young adult children and tax credits for small business, hoping these early deliverables would shore up public support. But a new poll, released this morning by the Kaiser Family Foundation, suggests the accelerated implementation schedule has failed to sway a skeptical public—or even kept health reform's most ardent supporters on board."

"While overall attitudes were roughly unchanged from last month, the percentage of people who reported that they have 'very favorable' opinions of the legislation fell from 23 to 14 percent during the month. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 32 percent of people reported 'very unfavorable' opinions, up slightly from the 30 percent reported last month" (Haberkorn and Kliff, 5/21).

Politics Daily's Poll Watch reports that the poll found: "Thirty percent of Americans say their most important source of news and information about the health care reform package has been the cable TV news channels or their websites, and those who have gotten any information from cable have mostly relied on CNN and Fox News..."

"When it comes to the sources of information from which people have gotten any information at all about the health plan, conversations with family and friends topped the list at 68 percent followed by the cable news channels at 63 percent, newspapers or their websites at 48 percent, local TV stations or their websites at 47 percent and listening to the radio at 45 percent. Only 20 percent got any information from elected officials while 19 percent got it from their doctor or another health care professional" (Drake, 5/21).

The Kaiser Family Foundation telephone survey was conducted May 11-16 and the margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points. (KHN is a program of KFF.)