Print“The public is still divided, mainly on partisan lines, as to whether to implement or repeal all, parts, or none of the health care reform bill, says Harris Poll Chairman Humphrey Taylor.”
Though the Obama administration’s healthcare reform law will likely be a key point of debate during the presidential campaign and the Supreme Court is set to consider its constitutionality in June, Americans are slowly starting to warm to some key components of the legislation, according to a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll.
The poll found American still sharply divided over the legislation with more than one-third wanting it repealed and another 25 percent saying they’d like key provisions modified. But support for certain components is growing.
The survey found that 71 percent of those polled now back the law's provision that prevents insurance companies from denying coverage to those already sick. At the end of 2010, a Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll indicated that 64 percent supported this provision. Other provisions of the health reform law gaining acceptance since that November 2010 poll include provisions that allowed children to remain on their parents’ health insurance plans until they turn 26 (57 percent vs. 55 percent), creating insurance exchanges (59 percent vs. 51 percent), and providing tax credits to small businesses to help pay for their employees' insurance (70 percent vs. 60 percent).
The new poll also found growing acceptance for the requirement that all employers with 50 or more employees offer insurance to their employees or pay a penalty (53 percent vs. 48 percent), requiring cost-effectiveness research (53 percent vs. 44 percent), and the creation of the Independent Payment Advisory Board to limit the growth of Medicare spending (38 percent vs. 32 percent).
The most controversial aspect of the law – the so-called individual mandate that requires all adults to have health insurance or face a fine – remains widely unpopular, with only 19 percent of those polled supporting it, regardless of political party affiliation.
“The public is still divided, mainly on partisan lines, as to whether to implement or repeal all, parts, or none of the health care reform bill,” says Harris Poll Chairman Humphrey Taylor.
The poll included 2,415 U.S. adults over age 18 surveyed online between Jan. 17-19, 2012.
February 02, 2012
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-americans_warming_to_healthcare_reform_law.html
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