According to a recent Thomson Reuters survey, the majority of Americans are ambivalent about healthcare reform. There are serious doubts surrounding the immediate impact Congress' actions would have on the insurance crisis. However, 60% of those polled expressed support for a public option health insurance plan. Such an option has been proposed in the House of Representatives and Senate, and has resulted in great controversy.

The poll, taken in early November, predictably split across party lines on that issue. Registered Democrats support the public option by a margin of 86%, which makes sense since Democratic legislators have pushed this legislation as a priority. In fact, comprehensive health insurance plan reform was a significant part of President Obama's campaign platform. Most Republicans, in contrast, do not support a public option. Their party leaders have driven home the viewpoint that such reform has the potential to result in negative changes for a person's current health insurance plan. It is surprising that the public option has garnered the support of even a third of the registered Republicans in this poll. What of the independent voters, those not registered with either political party? At 57 percent, their majority is also behind the public option.

Is Washington, D.C. listening to these voices? The verdict is mixed. Some conservative Democrats have waffled on including the public option in their healthcare reform bill; they have proposed opt-out measures and other limitations. However, the Democratic base generally seems to want a public option in the bill; granted, particular districts may be more supportive than others. Republicans are clearly keeping in mind the wishes of their devotees: to fight what they consider an unconscionable government takeover of industry, by blocking this legislation by whatever means necessary--e.g. a filibuster.

Despite majority support for a public option, supporters of the healthcare reform bill passed by the House of Representatives and currently being debated by the Senate still have other hurdles to overcome. People in the U.S. are very skeptical of how reform will help them with their health insurance plan in the short run. Admittedly, the bulk of the legislation (including any public option that is passed) will not take effect until around 2013. However, the spending on the infrastructure will begin far sooner.

Americans are understandably concerned about the cost of healthcare reform, and by how much it will increase the national budget deficit. While the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, as well as congressional Democratic leaders like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, claims that reform will end up paying for itself and in fact reduce the deficit within a decade, the outlook of the near future doesn't appear so bright. Only 13% of Americans believe that the U.S. will be spending less on health care 12 months from now; 52% strongly disagree with that statement. At least in the short term, the average American believes their health insurance plan will cost the same, if not more.

Increased access to health care is also a problem. The proposed reforms seek to provide millions of uninsured Americans with a health insurance plan that will help them acquire the medical care they need. Slightly under one fourth of the population believes that such an outcome will come to pass over the next year, while the rest doubt that receiving needed treatment will become easier any time soon.

The quality of any health insurance plan is also very important, but 35% Americans fear that it will not improve in the next year. Another 30% are unsure. A fraction of the people in the nationally-representative poll--slightly over 11 percent--agree that health care quality will improve in the net 12 months.