By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

A new NBC News poll shows why President Barack Obama's health care plan is in trouble: Americans are ignorant about key parts of it.

This won't come as a great surprise to supporters of reform.

They know the GOP as well as other backers of American's costly, ineffective health care system have spent millions on a media campaign to mislead America.

Straight from the NBC News poll story:

Majorities in the poll believe the plans would give health insurance coverage to illegal immigrants; would lead to a government takeover of the health system; and would use taxpayer dollars to pay for women to have abortions — all claims that nonpartisan fact-checkers say are untrue about the legislation that has emerged so far from Congress.

Oh, let's not forget the inane "death panels" charge made by former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and others.

Forty-five percent think the reform proposals would allow the government to make decisions about when to stop providing medical care for the elderly. That also is untrue: The provision in the House legislation that critics have seized on — raising the specter of “death panels” or euthanasia — would simply allow Medicare to pay doctors for end-of-life counseling, if the patient wishes.

Of course, one of the problems with all the misleading information put out by Republicans and other critics is this:

Obama and the Democrats have kowtowed to that campaign. Just last week, Democrats backed away from having end-of-life counseling be part of a Senate committee bill on health care.

Why? Because Palin's absurd charge had received so much publicity and because Americans who are ignorant of the truth complained so loudly about the bogus information.

Just sad.