Public Support, Disapproval of ACA Both Down, Poll Finds
The percentage of voters who have an unfavorable view of the Affordable Care Act has declined, from 53% to 47%, while the percentage of voters who support the law has dropped from 38% to 35%, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Tuesday, The Hill reports (Ferris, The Hill, 9/9).
For the monthly poll, KFF conducted telephone interviews with 1,505 U.S. adults, 1,239 of whom were registered voters (Rovner, "Capsules," Kaiser Health News, 9/9).
The percentage of respondents who approve of the law has declined from 50% after the law was signed in 2010. Meanwhile, 60% of voters said they have not directly been affected by the ACA (The Hill, 9/9).
Few Voters Favor Repealing ACA
Despite the opposition to the law, the survey found that more voters would rather improve the law than repeal it, Modern Healthcare reports. While 33% favor repealing the ACA, 63% say it should be improved. However, 41% of voters said they would support a candidate who favored repealing the law, compared with 30% who said they would be less likely to support a candidate who wanted to repeal it.
Health Care Third-Most Important Issue for Voters
According to the KFF poll, the ACA is behind jobs and the economy as major issues that will affect voting in November. Despite the finding, health care's presence in campaigning has increased.
Specifically, 3% of voters said the ACA would sway their vote. Meanwhile, more than 50% of voters said they have seen an advertisement related to the law within the last 30 days. In 11 states with competitive Senate races, 71% of voters have seen health law-related ads (Demko, Modern Healthcare, 9/9).
ACA Feelings Linked to Obama Opinion
Further, the poll indicates that approval and disapproval of the ACA reflect voters' feelings about President Obama more so than how they feel about the effectiveness of the law, National Journal reports. For example, the poll found that 72% and 83% of Republicans would be less likely to support a candidate who voted for the ACA and supported Obama, respectively. Meanwhile, 52% and 53% of Democrats said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate for supporting the ACA and Obama, respectively (Baker, National Journal, 9/9).
ACA Remains a Party Line Issue
There still are "clear party divisions" when it comes to how voters view the ACA, according to a separate NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, the Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" reports.
The poll of 1,000 registered voters was conducted between Sept. 3 and Sept. 7.
The poll found:
- 82% of Republicans view the law unfavorably; and
- 63% of Democrats view the law favorably.
Meanwhile, the NBC/Journal poll found that Latino voters were the only group in which supporters of the ACA outnumbered the opponents (Radnofsky, "Washington Wire," Wall Street Journal, 9/9).
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