Kaiser Health conducted the poll, the findings of which can’t bring any comfort to the Obama White House.
The October health tracking poll finds a more negative overall public mood about the health reform law, driven largely by changes in support for the law among Democrats. The poll also asked the public’s impressions of the Massachusetts health reform law enacted under then- Gov. Mitt Romney, who is now a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. Findings from the poll include:
After remaining roughly evenly split for most of the last year and a half, this month’s tracking poll found more of the public expressing negative views towards the law. In October, about half (51%) say they have an unfavorable view of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), while 34 percent have a favorable view, a low point in Kaiser polls since the law was passed. While Democrats continue to be substantially more supportive of the law than independents or Republicans, the change in favorability this month was driven by waning enthusiasm for the law among Democrats, among whom the share with a favorable view dropped from nearly two-thirds in September to just over half (52%) in October.
When the Democrats passed ObamaCare along partisan lines, two things seemed to be on their minds. One, the law would actually do some good (along with pushing the entire political discussion onto more favorable ground for them), and two, whatever resistance there was to it at that moment would wane as passions cooled. But now, about 18 months later, a plurality (44%) thinks the law won’t leave them better off, and passions haven’t cooled at all. Opposition outside the Democratic Party keeps growing, and support within the party seems to be weakening.
The poll did find a bit of good news for Mitt Romney.
The survey finds that nearly three quarters of the public, including seven in ten likely Republican presidential primary voters, say they don’t know enough about the Massachusetts law to have either a favorable or unfavorable opinion of it. A similar share of the public (71%) cannot say whether the law is similar to, or different from, the national health reform law.
RomneyCare isn’t really hurting him, and won’t until the link between it and ObamaCare is solidified in the GOP voters’ minds.
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