"With critical votes rapidly approaching in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, we believe it is important to re-examine rural attitudes toward health care reform," said Jon Bailey with the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Nebraska. "The media and elected officials often suggest that rural people are not supportive of health care reform. But that is simply not true. These results reflect what we have found in our work in throughout rural America. Rural people understand the problems with the current health care system very well," added Bailey.

According to Bailey, the health care reform bills advancing through Congress will make health insurance more affordable for everyone by placing new requirements on health insurance companies and providing assistance to families and small businesses that otherwise would be unable to afford coverage.

Roger Johnson, President of the National Farmers Union said, "The economy of rural America is dominated by family farms, ranches and small businesses which face some of the steepest challenges in the current health care system. Our current health care system is badly broken and needs major reform."

The poll, commissioned by the Northwest Area Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota, found that 90 percent of rural people believe that having affordable health care makes a difference in a family's ability to make ends meet in the current economy. However, only 48 percent of rural people think national elected officials are either very or somewhat knowledgeable about the economic struggles people in their communities face.

"People in rural America have been hit hard by the recession," said Kevin Walker, President and CEO of Northwest Area Foundation. "Nonetheless, the poll shows that an overwhelming majority believes the number of people struggling in their community can be reduced. And they recognize that one of the keys to their future prosperity is affordable health care."

Northwest Area Foundation commissioned Lake Research Partners to conduct a national survey to explore local perceptions of the struggle to make ends meet in one's own community, attitudes toward the roles of local elected officials, and ways in which to address this struggle. The telephone survey was conducted among 4,004 Americans age 18 and older, from June 18 - July 13, 2009. A total of 800 interviews were conducted nationally, and oversamples of 400 interviews were conducted in each of the following eight states: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The oversamples were weighted down to reflect their true proportion in the country. The margin of error for the state results is +/- 5.0 percentage points. Previous national polls were released in March 2006, March 2007 and April 2008.

Full poll results can be found at http://toolbox.nwaf.org/