Poll: Many voters think healthcare reform didn't go far enough

Voters who say the new health reform law was too conservative outnumber by 2 to 1 those supporting repeal, according to a poll released Saturday. 

About 40 percent of respondents said the law was too timid in overhauling the nation's healthcare system, while 20 percent said they'd like to see it scrapped, according to the survey, commissioned by The Associated Press (AP).

Republicans, who voted unanimously against the health reforms, have molded their campaign message around the idea that opposition to the law comes overwhelmingly from voters who consider it an intrusion on time-honored liberties. 

“When you said you didn’t want a government takeover of health care, we heard you," Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Saturday during the Republican's weekly radio address.

But the poll suggests dissatisfaction with the new law is much more nuanced than that, with more voters indicating frustration that the Democrats didn't go further. 

"I was disappointed that it didn't provide universal coverage," Bronwyn Bleakley, 35, an Easton, Mass.-based biology professor, told the AP.

Among the other key findings:

• 30 percent of respondents said they support the legislation; 40 percent oppose it; and the remaining 30 percent declined to weigh in one way or the other. 

• Among those who wanted the reforms to go further, nearly 70 percent support requiring larger businesses to cover their employees or pay a fine.

• Among those supporting repeal, just 25 percent say insurance companies should be forced to cover those with pre-existing conditions. 

• Large majorities in both camps say that medical care costs too much.

The survey was conducted between Aug. 31 and Sept. 7 by researchers at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Stanford University.