Survey: More Voters 'Worried' About Health Care Following High Court Ruling

(Newsroom America) -- A new survey said most Americans were "worried" rather than "reassured" about their health care following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month upholding major portions of President Obama's signature legislative accomplishment.

The latest Fox News poll - conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from July 15 to July 17 - found that 58 percent of respondents believe the Affordable Care Act should be changed, and that Congress should continue to work on it.

The vast majority of Republicans (84 percent), not surprisingly, believe lawmakers should continue working to reform the law, especially its individual mandate requiring Americans to purchase health insurance by 2014. That was the key provision of the law that formed the basis of the court's 5-4 decision; writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts called the mandate a tax, not a penalty, which he said then gave Congress authority to implement it.

Fifty-three percent of Independents agree that lawmakers should work on reforming the law; 35 percent of Democrats said so.

"Overall, a 57-percent majority of voters would like Congress to repeal at least part of the health care law: 29 percent want complete repeal and another 28 percent favor repealing parts of it," Fox News reported, quoting figures from the survey.

Four in 10 voters said they wanted Congress to keep or expand the law; 22 percent favor keeping it in its current form, while 18 percent favor expanding it. The number of voters who say they want to keep the law as is increased from a previous high of 16 percent in previous polls in 2010 and 2011.

Nearly all Republicans want Congress to repeal all or parts of the law; two-thirds of Democrats want the law to be kept as is or expanded further.

Other aspects of the survey found:

-- Voters by a 60-36 percent margin said they wished President Obama would have spent more time working to improve the economy than working to reform health care;

-- Looking towards the November elections, most voters said a candidate's position on the health care law will be a determining factor in how they will vote;

-- Voters are split evenly over whether they agree or disagree with the Supreme Court's decision;

-- Most Democrats (72 percent) and Independents (51 percent) said they agreed with the ruling, compared to 78 percent of Republicans who did not.

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