Health Care Debate Dominates Interest and Coverage

As President Obama and Democratic leaders mounted what was characterized as the final push to pass health care reform legislation last week, the public followed the health care debate more closely than any other major story (33% say they followed this story most closely).

The debate also topped media coverage. The percentage of Americans who say they think Congress will pass health care legislation this year edged up to 43%, but about half (49%) still say lawmakers will not pass a bill in 2010. Among Democrats, 61% now say they think a health care reform bill will pass this year, up from 49% one week earlier. Only 27% of Republicans and 38% of independents say they think a bill will pass, unchanged from the previous week, according to the latest News Interest Index survey, conducted March 12-15 among 1,019 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.