Poll Tracker

The country is split over whether the government needs to get into the health insurance business, with 49 percent favoring such a move and 46 percent opposing it, according to an Ipsos/McClatchy poll conducted Aug. 27-31.

However, a wide majority, 75 percent, said they favored "making gradual but continuous improvements," while 22 percent said they supported "fixing everything at once." A similar majority, 74 percent, say they favored government involvement in regulations that protect consumer rights, such as portability of health coverage, while 15 percent would oppose it.

The poll was based on telephone interviews with 1,057 adults nationwide and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.