Editor’s Note: Below you will find a large portion of a news release from Kaiser Health News, funded by the Kaiser Health Foundation.

The results of the first of its polls shows a lot of general confusion but a surprising amount of support for specific parts of reform across the board—Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

Also worth noting, the poll shows that cable news is the dominant source of information among those surveyed.

Kaiser Health News Release

“The first Kaiser Health Tracking Poll fielded since the passage of health reform last month finds that 8 in 10 Americans know that President Obama signed the legislation into law. But 55 percent say they are confused about the law and more than half (56%) say they don’t yet have enough information to understand how it will affect them personally.

“The April poll finds that the public supports many of the provisions of health reform that are set to be implemented in the short term. When asked about 11 specific provisions scheduled to take effect this year, in each case a majority of Americans viewed them favorably, often with bipartisan support. (Emphasis added)

“Still, the public remains divided on the law overall, with 46 percent viewing it favorably, 40 percent unfavorably and 14 percent undecided. Similarly, 31 percent of Americans say they expect personally to be better off because of the law, while 32 percent say they will be worse off and 30 percent say they don’t expect to be affected.” (Emphasis added)

Many Reform Provisions That Take Effect in 2010 Are Popular With Bipartisan Support

“The new law was constructed to include some provisions that take effect in the first year so that the public would feel tangible results in the short term. The poll tested the popularity of many of these early measures and finds widespread support for them across the political spectrum, including among Republicans and independents

“Nearly 9 in 10 Americans favor providing tax credits to small businesses that want to provide coverage for their workers, for instance. And roughly 8 in 10 have favorable views of provisions that would offer access to basic preventive care with no copayments, provide financial help to seniors who hit the gap in Medicare drug coverage known as the “doughnut hole,” and end insurance companies’ practice of dropping coverage if a person has a major health problem. (Emphasis added)

“In each of these cases, at least two-thirds of Republicans and independents join most Democrats in viewing the provisions favorably.” (Emphasis added)

Source: Kaiser Health News,News Release, April 22, 2o10