Study Shos Many Americans Lack Confidence in Health Care System.doc

Americans are just as divided on 1. as they were before President Obamas health reform legislation became law. Protesters in Washington carried signs on Thursday 2. repeal of the legislation. They say it 3. runaway spending. A new Associated Press-GfK poll shows that 50 percent of Americans 4. the new health care law and opposition is strongest among those 64 and older. Many older Americans worry that their care will be 5. by cuts in federal payments to hospitals and other providers. In another 6. , this one by Ipsos/Reuters, only 51 percent of Americans thought they could get 7. , 8. health care. The survey included people in 22 nations. Women, adults under the age of 55 and less educated people in all the countries included in the study reported low 9. health care access. Yet another study showed that Americans without medical insurance, often delay going to a hospital after a 10. . Dr. Paul Chan was one of the researchers. Forty-nine percent of 11. patients were more likely to wait more than six hours before coming into the hospital and 45 percent of patients with health care insurance but with financial concerns in accessing medical care waited more than six hours before coming into the hospital. Every minute counts when someone is having a heart attack. This helicopter crew knows that. Doctors say these patients need to get medical care within two hours 12. . By the time some patients in the study sought help, their hearts were already damaged. Larry Scott now uses a wheel chair. He put off going to the hospital after a heart attack 13. If I had the 14. , this wouldnt have happened, said Scott. This would have been taken care of right then and there. The researchers 15. more than 3,700 patients who had heart attacks and came to emergency rooms for treatment. We concluded that health care insurance 16.