The poll was conducted prior to President Obama's September 9 speech, but shows business leaders support elements expected in the president's plan, including an insurance exchange (78 percent favorable), efficiency reforms and an oversight commission (71 percent), requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions (79 percent), and a public health option (51 percent).

While the findings don't exactly indicate how, and to what extent, business leaders' opinion on health care reform could have on Washington, Business Forward emphasizes one in three business leaders polled reports being more involved in the 2008 campaigns than in prior years, and nearly nine out of 10 of these leaders expect to become even more involved in future campaigns.

(Update):

Employers say they plan to adjust their benefit strategies based directly on how final legislation will affect their cost, according to a survey by Towers Perrin released Thursday, one day after Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., unveiled a $856 billion health care reform plan.

According to the survey, employers say they will not absorb additional costs that result from reform, but plan to take measures to avoid doing so – including reducing benefits, raising prices for customers, or reducing head count.

Nearly one in four companies are currently rethinking benefit changes and 89 percent plan to reexamine their health benefit strategies for active employees in response to health care reform changes.

Two-thirds of employers believe health care reform will have little or no impact on consumer behaviors. Nearly half believe that an employer "pay or play" mandate would have a negative effect on their business.

About 60 percent of employers say even if they no longer offered medical benefits, they would stand by their committments to employee wellness and health as they recognize the importance of workforce health to business success.