Health care reform is near the top of the list for incoming President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, but a majority of U.S. voters (58%) oppose any kind of government-controlled health plan if it means they have to change their own insurance coverage.

Twenty-five percent (25%) say they would support such a plan even if they had to change their own coverage, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.

In a survey in July, 68% of Americans rated health care in this country as fair or poor, but a near identical number (69%) gave good or excellent marks to their own health insurance coverage and were very reluctant to change it.

Republicans are more emphatic than Democrats in the new survey. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of GOP voters oppose a government plan if they have to change their own health insurance , while 12% favor such a plan and 11% are undecided. By comparison, just 43% of Democrats are against a plan that makes them change their own coverage, and 36% support it. But more than one-out-of-five Democrats (21%) are undecided.

Among unaffiliated voters, 59% are against a health plan that forces them to change their own coverage, while 25% are in favor of it, with 16% not sure.

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Fifty-nine percent (59%) of white voters don't want a plan that makes them change their health insurance, but only 45% of African-Americans agree. Thirty-five percent (35%) of black voters support such a plan, along with 25% of whites.

Generally speaking, the older the voter, the higher the level of opposition to a plan that means they have to change their health insurance coverage. Married voters also are far more opposed to such a plan than unmarried voters.

Earlier this year, only 29% of American adults favored a national health insurance program overseen by the federal government.

Voters consistently trusted Democrats and Obama more on the issue of health care than Republicans and their presidential nominee John McCain during the campaign season. Obama's performance as president-elect continues to draw record high numbers in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index.

In the latest survey, voters are more closely divided when asked about helping those who cannot get insurance even if it means an increase in their own incomes taxes. Forty-six percent (46%) oppose a government-controlled health plan for those who cannot get insurance if it means a personal tax increase, but 42% favor such a plan despite the additional cost to themselves. Twelve percent (12%) aren't sure.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of male voters oppose a health plan that raises their taxes, compared to 42% of women. A plurality of female voters (47%) support such a plan versus 37% of men.

The partisan divide on this question is enormous. Sixty-two percent (62%) of Democratic voters support a government health plan for those who cannot get insurance if it means an increase in their income taxes, but only 20% of Republicans agree. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of GOP voters oppose that kind of plan, along with just 24% of Democrats. Unaffiliated voters by 11 points come down against a plan that raises their taxes.

The gap between black and white voters is also substantial. Seventy-four percent (74%) of African-Americans support a government plan for those without insurance even if their own taxes go up, compared to 39% of whites. Forty-nine percent (49%) of white voters oppose an insurance plan that raises their taxes, along with just 17% of blacks.

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This national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports December 5-6, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the survey is /- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. 

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