With the ongoing GOP presidential debates there’s been so much negativity floating around the health reform conversation.  So, it’s nice when every now and then something positive is able to break through all the rhetoric.

This week, Harris Interactive/Health Day released the results of their latest poll on health reform.  Naturally, they did find that Americans are sharply divided when it comes to their opinions on the Affordable Care Act.  But, it turns out that more folks seem to be coming around to the many different parts of the law.  For example:

• 57% of Americans polled favor allowing children to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they turn 26.  This is up from 55% in Nov. 2010.
• 59% favor creating insurance exchanges where people can shop for insurance – up from 51%.
• 70% favor providing tax credits to small businesses to help pay for their employees’ insurance – a big increase from 60% in November 2010.
• 53% favor requiring all employers with 50 or more employees to offer insurance to their employees or pay a penalty – up from 48%.
• 53% favor requiring research to measure the effectiveness of different treatments, up from just 44%.
• 38% also favor creating a new Independent Payment Advisory Board to limit the growth of Medicare spending – up from 32%.

Granted, that’s not to say that folks favor EVERYTHING about the law.  In terms of the requirement that everyone buy insurance, that one didn’t budge.  Only 19% of folks fully support that one, a number which hasn’t changed at all since the last poll (22% of folks say they’re not sure what they think about that).

Anyways, it’s not all pretty, but it’s pretty interesting nonetheless.  Here’s a link to Harris’ press relase, if you would like to learn more, and a link to a related article from Health Day.