Readers: Little Hope in Proposed Health-Care Plan

New credit-card rules, the near-term future of interest rates, and health-care reform dominated headlines this week, and SmartMoney.com readers voiced their opinions on each in our daily polls.

Here s where you stand: You don t think the new credit-card rules will help consumers, you re on the fence about making investment moves to prepare for higher interest rates and you overwhelmingly believe that there s no new life in the health-care plan.

The polls were conducted during a five-day stretch when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped below 10,300 only to climb back up following conflicting economic indicators that suggest a full recovery is still far away. Those include a decline in consumer confidence and an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims but also an increase in the country s gross domestic product and small gains in the housing market.

On Monday, the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act went into effect. Designed to secure consumers better treatment from credit-card issuers, the law includes protection from over-limit fees, restrictions on interest-rate hikes and stricter requirements for card applicants under age 21. Despite such changes, 59% of SmartMoney.com respondents don t think the new rules will help consumers while 26% think they will help and 15% are unsure.

Last week s announcement by the Federal Reserve to increase its discount rate (but to leave the federal funds rate unchanged) left investors concerned that interest rates would increase sooner than expected. SmartMoney.com readers appear uncertain about what investment moves to make as a result. Forty-five percent of respondents say they haven t made moves to prepare for higher interest rates while 32% say they have and 23% are thinking about it. This week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered investors guidance on a continued low interest rate policy.

Health-care reform returned to the forefront this week, as President Obama kicked off a televised summit to help revive the overhaul bill that has stalled in Congress. Earlier this week, the White House proposed a $950 billion plan that would cover 30 million people but it s likely to face Republican opposition. SmartMoney.com respondents see little hope in the new plan. Eight-two percent say there s no new life in it while 18% believe there is.