Healthcare debate comes in red and blue, survey says

Most Republicans think the US healthcare system is the best in the world. But Democrats? Not so much.

A Harvard survey released today found that Americans are sharply divided along party lines when it comes to their views of the US healthcare system versus other countries' programs.

Almost seven in 10 Republicans say the US system is the best in the world, while only three in 10 Democrats and four in 10 Independents would agree, according to the poll conducted two weeks ago by the Harvard School of Public Health and Harris Interactive.

When asked what they would do in the voting booth come November, one in five Republicans said they would choose a presidential candidate who believed US healthcare should be made more like the universal healthcare systems in Canada, France, and Great Britain. But more than half of Democrats and more than a third of Independents said they would likely back such a candidate.