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CNN Poll: Support Rises For Health Insurance Mandate

From CNN:

Posted by

November 14th, 2011

Washington – The public is divided over the idea of requiring all Americans to have health insurance, according to a new national survey. But a CNN/ORC International Poll also indicates that support for the proposal, a cornerstone of the 2010 health care reform law, has risen since June.

The survey’s Monday release comes as the Supreme Court has agreed to decide the constitutionality of the sweeping health care reform law that was passed by a Democratic Congress and championed by President Barack Obama. The justices made their announcement in a brief order issued on Monday. Oral arguments would likely be held in late February or March, with a ruling by June, assuring the blockbuster issue will become a hot-button political issue in a presidential election year.

According to the poll, 52% of Americans favor mandatory health insurance, up from 44% in June. The survey indicates that 47% oppose the health insurance mandate, down from 54% in early summer.

“The health insurance mandate has gained most support since June among older Americans and among lower-income Americans,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “A majority of independents opposed the measure in June, but 52 percent of them now favor it.”

The poll was conducted for CNN by ORC International Poll from November 11-13, with 1,036 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

Healthcare Law Even Losing Support Among Democrats

From NPR:

By 

October 28, 2011

It was striking how relatively infrequently congressional Democrats and President Obama talked up the new health care law during the 2010 mid-term election campaigns.

And that was at a time when the law, though generally unpopular, still had significant support among Democrats.

But now many rank-and-file Democrats have apparently bailed on the law as well, as NPR’s Julie Rovner reports over at our Shots blog. A new Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, the support of Democratic voters fell to 52 percent in October from 78 percent in March 2010.

That clearly suggests that Republicans running for president and congressional Republicans have a receptive audience for their message that the law was a mistake.

Meanwhile, it puts Obama and congressional Democrats in the difficult spot of having to defend a law many voters are negative about.

How Democrats navigate the shoals of the public’s growing antipathy towards the health care law in the 2012 campaign will be something to watch with interest.

Fortunately for them, the election is likely to be decided on jobs and the economy, not health care.

Unfortunately for Obama, however, it looks like even many in his political base won’t be energized heading towards Election Day by his health care law achievement.

Kaiser Poll: The Uninsured Don’t Understand ACA

From Politico:

People will only understand the law when it becomes tangible for them, Drew Altman said. | AP Photo

By JENNIFER HABERKORN | 8/29/11 12:24 PM EDT

About half of the uninsured Americans who stand to benefit the most from the health care reform law aren’t aware of how the legislation is designed to help them buy insurance, according to a new poll released Monday.

The Kaiser Family Foundation’s monthly health tracking poll found that 47 percent of the uninsured said the law “won’t make much difference” to them. Another 14 percent said the law would hurt them. Only 31 percent said they thought the law would help them.

Nearly half of the uninsured don’t know about the law’s tax credits for low- and middle-income people. Another 53 percent don’t know about the law’s Medicaid expansion.

“Experts who have advocated for expanded coverage for decades probably envision the uninsured sitting around the kitchen table anxiously awaiting the implementation of coverage expansions under the ACA,” Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, wrote in a column about the survey. “But surprisingly, only three in ten of the uninsured say the ACA will help them get health care.”

The coverage expansion isn’t due to go into effect until 2014, but Altman says people are unlikely to be truly aware of the benefits until up to two years later. The figures reflect the struggle supporters of the law will have in getting the word out to consumers who can benefit from it. (more…)

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