Poll: Tax rich to pay for health bill

WASHINGTON -- A new Associated Press poll finds that Americans favor taxing the rich to pay for covering those without health insurance.

Of the approaches Congress is considering to pay for President Obama's health care overhaul, the only one that got majority support in the AP poll was a new income tax on upper-income people.

That's the approach House Democrats took in their health care bill, which passed earlier this month. The poll found 57 percent in favor of the idea, and 36 percent opposed.

In contrast, the public does not favor a tax on high-value insurance plans under consideration in the Senate.

Fifty-six percent were opposed and only 29 percent in favor of that idea, which is also opposed by organized labor.