WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. poll released on Tuesday showed that the majority of Americans support President Barack Obama's healthcare policy reform proposal to include a government-run insurance option in the country's healthcare system.

    According to the poll by Harris Interactive conducted between July 9 and 13, 52 percent of the 2,276 interviewees said that they were in favor of the government-run health plan, while 30 percent opposed.

    About 70 percent agreed that the government-run option could be a valuable alternative to private insurance, and over 60 percent believed that it would help keep insurance costs down, said the poll.

    However, more than 50 percent of interviewees said that they worried the plan would limit patients' freedom to choose doctors and treatments.

    Obama has promised an overhaul healthcare system reform in the country, which is aimed at curbing rapidly rising costs and expanding health insurance coverage to the 46 million uninsured Americans.

    The United States is the only major industrialized nation without a comprehensive national health care plan. Most Americans rely on private health insurance partly funded by their employers, but they lose the insurance should they become unemployed.

    Officials statistics showed that U.S. healthcare now consumes 2.2 trillion U.S. dollars a year, nearly 7,471 dollars per person, which equals 16 percent of GDP with a projected rise to 25 percent of GDP by 2025.