Public support for congressional efforts to reform America's health care system is declining, according to a report released Wednesday by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Zogby International. The authors conducted an online poll that found 50 percent of respondents oppose a bill introduced by U.S. House Democratic leaders this week that would overhaul the system and pay for it by raising the taxes of the wealthiest Americans. Forty-two percent said they support the bill. Poll authors also found a lack of support for a single-payer plan, a public health insurance option, taxing high-income people to cover the uninsured and a mandate that individuals have insurance. They cited previous surveys that showed slightly more support for those elements of reform. 'The question is whether the air is coming out of the balloon or it's just a matter of wedding-bell jitters,' said Dr. Ward Casscells, a UT-Houston administrator who created the poll and commissioned Zogby conduct it. 'As health care's hour draws near, it's going to take leadership to convince a skeptical people that the legislation being considered is good for them, not just the uninsured.' President Barack Obama has set a deadline of this summer for Congress to fashion legislation to overhaul the nation's $2.5 trillion care system, improving quality, providing coverage to the nearly 50 million who lack it and bringing down costs. The poll shows there is strong support for providing insurance for all Americans, but little for increasing taxes to pay for it. Increasing cigarette taxes was favored by 50 percent of respondents, the only tax option favored by at least half of respondents. Big party split Less than 20 percent favored increased co-pays and deductibles, rationing care, eliminating Medicare Advantage plans and decreasing home care reimbursement. The most popular revenue-generating methods were eliminating fraud, standardizing forms, reducing medical errors and promoting living wills. The poll found a huge partisan divide, with 45.6 percent of respondents agreeing with Obama that a public insurance plan is needed to keep insurance companies honest and 45 disagreeing. There was more opposition when the question didn't include Obama's name. Columbia University political science professor Robert Shapiro acknowledged that there's no more a mandate for reform now than when President Bill Clinton proposed change in the early 1990s, but he said that could change. 'The Democrats clearly have work to do,' said Shapiro, co-author of 'Politicians Don't Pander,' which examines Clinton's failed health-care reform campaign. 'But the public will respond if Democrats can come to a consensus on a reform plan.' The survey, which has a margin of error of 1.6 percent, was conducted of 3,862 members of Zogby's pool of on-line opinion givers. The question about the new House bill was asked Tuesday. The rest of the questions were asked from June 18 to 22. todd.ackerman@chron.com 