Will we or won’t we have health care reform? We shall soon know.

The fights have dragged on so long, and, understandably, been discussed in pieces, it may well be that most of America does not know what other citizens think.

To call it a quagmire is kind. The fault lies squarely with Congress and the president who let them wander all over the place before deciding to intervene.

That is why this poll is so interesting. If you read the news carefully, you might be able to see where there is real consensus on important parts of the program but you would have to read carefully.

What this poll shows is a lot of agreement among the American people about what our priorities should be.

In a column by Marshall Loeb for The Wall Street Journal’s Digital Edition, he reports on public opinion about health care reform. Loeb is a former editor of Fortune,  Money and the Columbia Journalism Review.

This summer, public opinion surveys showed an overwhelming amount of public support for requiring insurance companies to provide coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, which has been a hot button issue for some years now.

In this poll, Market Watch found slightly more than half of Americans support the “public option,” a government-sponsored plan which would compete with private health plans. Views about the public option may shift more as dramatic health insurance premium hikes are being rolled out now by national plans. The size of the increases has shocked even savvy observers. One national plan announced a 39% increase. If this becomes a pattern, that pattern will get the public option a lot of fans fast.

Interestingly, a significant 65% of those polled would require every American to have health insurance, with supplements for those who can’t pay for it. This also has been a hotter-button issue than many of the ones being fought over now.

Some 61% favor a “play or pay” requirement. Employers must provide health care for employees or pay into the government’s health care fund.

Three-quarters of those participating favor creating a system which guarantees patients access to medically necessary care. There is a fight right there, defining what is “medically necessary.” The other part of this fight is the definition of this plan. Is this or is it not, “nationalized health care?” A lightening rod issue for Americans, who viscerally respond to the word, “nationalized.”

Despite real worries about the deficit, those polled thought health care reform more important than bringing down the deficit. In this economy, that is really saying something.

Congress may not know what it is doing. The president may not have pushed all of the buttons a president can push to get something done.

But the American people know what they want.

Perhaps Congress might want to review these findings. It could make what appears to be an impossible job for them easier.

It should be noted that in the full column, Loeb described our health care system as one of the “best in the world.” That is not a view shared by health care opinion leaders and he would face stiff, data-rich challenges in a debate on this point.

Market Watch

• …”52% support the establishment of a government health-care plan to compete with private health-insurance plans.
• “65% would require that all Americans have health insurance, with the government providing financial help for those who can’t afford it.
• “63% would require raising taxes on families with incomes over $350,000 and individuals earning more than $280,000 in order to pay for insurance coverage for the less affluent.
• “61% would require employers to pay into a government health-care fund if they do not provide health insurance to their employees.
• “75% of respondents favor creating a system that guarantees access to medically necessary care for all Americans. This, presumably, is what most Americans mean when they refer to “nationalized medicine.”

“Finally, despite growing worries about the budget deficit, the public continues to put a higher priority on spending more on reforming health care than on reducing the deficit.”

Source: Wall Street Journal/Market Watch, Digital Edition, March 15, 2o10