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RALEIGH — Tar Heels seem to agree on this much: The nation’s health insurance system is not what it should be.

Nearly 77 percent of those surveyed in a recent Elon University Poll say health care in the United States is “in need of reform.”

Just what that reform should be is a dicier question for those responding to the poll:

• 54 percent of respondents say they’d favor a federally created public option to compete with private health insurance.
• Only 41.3 percent of respondents say they’d use a public health insurance option if one became available.
• And only 41.1 percent of respondents said they would favor a universal health care scheme — under which everyone is insured by a government program. That’s down from 49.9 percent when the same question was asked in March of this year.

“Obvious from these results is that citizens recognize that the health system is in need of reform, but, like most Americans, are divided over how to do it,” Hunter Bacot, director of the Elon University Poll, said in a news release.

That division over health care reform, particularly the issue of a public option, is on display in North Carolina’s congressional delegation.

Sen. Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, supports a public option that Democratic leader Sen. Harry Reid intends to insert in the Senate version of the health reform bill, according to her spokeswoman.

“I have said all along that I support a backstop option for people without access to employer-sponsored health care,” Hagan said in a statement.

Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, has opposed the various public option plans.

“I will oppose any form of a public option as it would breach the doctor/patient relationship that is the foundation of our health care system,” Burr said in a written statement, adding that he did think insurance reform was needed.

Reaction has been mixed on the House side as well.

Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, has said the proposed regulations under health insurance reform bills are less stringent than those imposed on the state’s auto insurance system.

But Virginia Foxx, a Banner Elk Republican, characterized during a floor speech Monday the Democratic-led health care reform effort as a threat to American freedoms.

“I believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country,” Foxx said.

Spouses bill passes

The House Monday passed S 475, the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act, a bill introduced by Burr.

According to Burr’s office, the measure allows “military spouses to maintain or change residency when their family relocates due to military orders.”

Members of the military frequently have to move when they’re restationed. Currently, they have the option of keeping their official residency for purposes of voting or taxes in the state of their prior posting or moving it to the new state.

This measure, which is now headed to President Barack Obama for his signature, would extend the same privilege to their wives or husbands who currently don’t have that option.

“At a time when we are demanding so much from our military families, this bill will make their lives and constant transitions a little easier,” Burr said in a statement.

House votes

House votes of interest during the past two weeks have included:

H.R. 3585: Solar Technology Roadmap. It provides funding and other support for developing solar power technology in the United States.

The measure passed 310-106 and now goes to the Senate for consideration.

For: Democrats Miller and Mel Watt, of Charlotte. Against: Republicans Howard Coble of Greensboro and Foxx.

H.R. 2996: Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations, 2010. The House approved the House-Senate conference agreement for the spending bill, one of 13 Congress typically passes every year.

The measure provides funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, including $3.5 billion in grants to upgrade public water systems and sewage treatment systems.

The bill now goes to the president for his signature.

Democrats Miller and Watt voted for the measure. Republicans Coble and Foxx voted against.

Senate votes

Senate votes of interest during the past two weeks have included:

H.R. 2996: Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations, 2010. See explanation under House votes.

Hagan voted for the measure. Burr voted against.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com