Field Poll: 52% of Calif. Voters Support Federal Health Care Reform Law
Fifty-two percent of California voters support the new federal health reform law, while 38% oppose the law, according to a Field Poll released Thursday, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Researchers conducted the poll of 1,522 registered California voters between April 7 and April 27, a few weeks after President Obama signed the legislation into law. The poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points
Findings
The Field Poll found that 58% of respondents think that the health reform law represents an important first step toward improving the national health care system but that more changes are needed.
Support for health reform was high among Democrats and minorities, while Republicans generally opposed the law. One in three California voters said they would like the law repealed before any provisions are implemented.
Regardless if they support the reform law, only a quarter of respondents think the changes would directly benefit them or their families, the poll found.
Many respondents expressed concern that they would need to pay higher taxes and premiums because of the law. In addition, most respondents said they believed the law would hurt health insurers, physicians, businesses and affluent populations, but benefit low-income residents, uninsured populations, children and young adults.
Bucking National Sentiment?
The Field Poll findings suggest that California voters diverge from the rest of the U.S. in their perceptions of the health reform law.
On Wednesday, CNN/Opinion Research Corp. released a poll finding that 56% of U.S. residents oppose the health reform law, while 43% support it (Caina Calvan, Sacramento Bee, 6/3). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.