The August Health Tracking Poll finds that support for health reform fell over
the course of August, dipping from a 50 percent favorability rating in July to
43 percent, while 45 percent of the public reported unfavorable views. The dip
in favorability returned public opinion on the new law to the even split last
seen in May before a modest uptick in support in June and
July.
Americans’ views of how reform will affect them personally have
changed little over the summer, with 29 percent saying in August that they and
their family will be better off under the law, 30 percent saying they expect to
be worse off and 36 percent saying it won’t make much difference. But the gap
between those who think the new law will make the country better off and those
who think it will make it worse off narrowed over the last month, with 39
percent saying the law will benefit the nation and 37 percent expressing the
opposite view.
Partisan views of heath reform have remained relatively
fixed: Most Democrats continue to support the law (68%), most Republicans
continue to oppose it (77%), and independents are more closely divided (41% in
favor and 48% opposed). And the likely reported impact of health reform on the
congressional elections has changed little over recent months. The law still
splits registered voters into three roughly equally sized groups: A third (34%)
say they are more likely to oppose a candidate who backed the law; about a third
(31%) are more likely to support that candidate; and a third (33%) say it won’t
impact their vote.
Asked what would make the biggest difference in their
vote for Congress, the “direction of the nation as a whole” topped the list,
named by 34 percent, twice as many as the proportion who chose “specific
national issues”. Roughly a quarter said the “candidate’s character and
experience” would be the driving factors, and 19 percent named local or state
issues. Health care is competing with a host of other pressing topics for
attention.
While most of the early deliverables in the law, as well as
the coverage expansions coming later, remain highly popular, the individual
mandate, which is currently the focus of debate and lawsuits by states against
the federal government, presents a more complex picture.
The August
poll is the latest in a series designed and analyzed by the Foundation’s public
opinion research team.
Findings (.pdf)
Chartpack (.pdf)
Toplines (.pdf)
