(MONEY Magazine) – Although more than 80% of the nearly 10,000 readers who responded to MONEY's February poll on health care think the treatment they receive personally is good or excellent, a full 51% believe the condition of the American medical system as a whole is only fair or poor. The reasons, according to 76%, are the soaring medical and insurance prices that are expected to raise the national cost of health care to a terrifying $900 billion this year. June B. Moore, 38, of Tampa sums up the attitudes of many readers: ''I hope President Clinton can help. But the problem is just too enormous to solve quickly and cheaply.'' (For more on the health-care dilemma, see page 114.) Indeed, if the health-care task force headed by Hillary Rodham Clinton sought advice from our poll, it would find few clear signals. What MONEY readers want most, as expressed by 72% of respondents, is affordable insurance coverage for basic treatment. They also want the freedom to choose their own doctor (61%), prompt attention (56%) and a society that provides insurance coverage for everyone (53%). There is little agreement, though, on the shape of a new health-care system. Managed competition is favored by 29%, while 28% prefer a Canadian-style national health plan that would cover everyone at a cost to each taxpayer of an extra $1,000 to $2,000 a year. Pay or play -- the option that would oblige employers to either provide health insurance or face a payroll tax -- has the support of 15%. Another 19% say the status quo is satisfactory. These and the results that are enumerated below were based on a representative sample of all responses.

GENERAL VIEWS

Only 15% of the respondents consider U.S. health care excellent, and 32% judge it to be good. Of those disappointed in the system, 31% rate it fair and 20% poor. The nation's No. 1 health-care problem? An overwhelming 76% declare that it is the soaring cost of medical treatment and insurance; 22% say it is the lack of insurance coverage for everyone. The greatest personal concern: higher out-of-pocket medical expenses (48%). Asked to choose as many reasons for escalating health-care costs as they thought applicable, 53% place blame on rising doctors' fees, 52% on steeper insurance premiums, 49% on higher medication prices, 44% on inefficiency and waste at hospitals and 38% on too much government bureaucracy. More than 70% attribute the runaway costs to frivolous malpractice lawsuits and another 63% to fraud, though experts say these two categories consume less than 1% of all health-care outlays.

CHANGING THE SYSTEM

While respondents do not agree on any specific new system to deliver health care, 59% say they would be willing to pay as much as $50 a month to give insurance coverage to the 14% of the nation that is currently without it. And 42% think all employers, including small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, should be required to provide health-care benefits.

YOUR CARE

The quality of medical care that readers currently receive wins accolades: 36% consider it excellent, 45% say it is good, and only 16% judge it fair or poor. But 32% think the cost is much too high, and another 42% somewhat high. Specifically, 75% report that their 1992 out-of-pocket medical expenses are higher than three years ago, with 46% paying as much as $500 more in 1992, 19% up to $1,000 more and 15% in excess of $1,000 more. The 53% of respondents covered by company-sponsored health plans (commercial or Blue Cross) say they are being forced to contribute more, 38% of them citing increased premiums, and 42% higher deductibles or co-payments. Additionally, 37% say that it is taking them longer to get reimbursed for their health-care outlays.

ADDITIONAL CONCERNS

How confident are readers that they could cover costs of a major illness in their family? Only 17% say they are very confident and 37% somewhat confident, while 24% declare themselves not very confident and 17% not at all confident. Other poll questions elicited the following responses: Some 37% say they should have the right to carry health insurance coverage from job to job. Only 20% think that a low deductible on a health insurance policy is important, and 19% believe there should be no limits on coverage. Not surprisingly, a mere 3% say medical costs are too low and 18% somewhat low. One favorable note for America's health-care system: Just 4% sense an overall decline in quality of medical treatment.

(Our new poll, seeking your proposals for cuts in government spending, is on the next page.)