Wrong direction

A new survey from Franklin & Marshall College (Lancaster, Penn.) and Hearst Television finds that 26% of respondents believe the country is headed in the right direction.

Also, 52% of those polled consider the economy and personal finances to be the most important problems facing their families.

The survey findings are based on the results of interviews conducted April 5-25, 2011, at the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College. The data included the responses of 800 adults in the United States, with 652 of them registered to vote.

SURVEY FINDINGS
• More than one in three (36%) Americans say the current healthcare system meets their needs very well, and another two in five (43%) say it meets their needs pretty well, leaving about one in five (20%) who feel the system is not serving their personal needs. These figures remain largely unchanged since September 2009.

• Nearly one in four (23%) adults report skipping a recommended test or medical treatment because of the cost, and one in five (20%) did not fill a medical prescription because of the cost.

• About one in four (26%) respondents say they were without health insurance coverage at some point during the previous 12 months; this represented an increase over the 19% of respondents who indicated they went without health insurance coverage in the February 2010 poll.

• More people believe the health care reform law will make the health care system worse (42%) than better (32%), and fewer than one in three (30%) believes the law will bring down the long-term costs of health care. Two in five (44%) believe the health care law should be repealed.

• On economic policy, a majority (55%) of registered voters believes balancing the federal budget should be the top priority of the president and Congress – though only about one in six (16%) has been following the budget debate "very closely."

• More registered voters believe program cuts (30%) rather than tax increases (11%) should be used to balance the budget – but nearly half (46%) believes that both spending cuts and tax increases should be used.

• Registered voters have more confidence in the president’s ability to balance the budget (54% express confidence) than in Congress’s ability to do so (41% express confidence). Nevertheless, more voters disapprove (50%) than approve (43%) of the president’s handling of the economy.