Health Care Law: 53% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law
Rasmussen Reports ^ | Monday, July 11, 2011
Voters still want to see the national health care law repealed and remain more closely divided over whether the law will force them to change their existing health insurance coverage.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 53% of Likely U.S. Voters favor repeal of the health care law while 40% are opposed. Those figures include 41% who Strongly Favor repeal and 27% who are Strongly Opposed. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
This marks virtually no change from a week ago or from more than a year ago when the bill was first passed. A majority of voters have favored repeal of the measure every week but one since it was passed by Congress in March 2010. During that time, support for repeal has ranged from a low of 47% to as high as 63%.
Thirty-seven percent (37%) of voters think it is at least somewhat likely that passage of the health care law will mean they have to change health insurance. Forty-four percent (44%) feel a forced change in coverage is unlikely. These findings include 22% who say a change is Very Likely and 18% who say it’s Not At All Likely. Another 18% are not sure.
Since June of last year, belief that the health care law is likely to force a change in health insurance has ranged from 34% to 51%.
Seventy-nine percent (79%) of voters currently rate their own health insurance coverage as good or excellent. Only three percent (3%) see that coverage as poor. This is consistent with findings over the past several years.
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 8-9, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Just over one-in-three voters (36%) believe the health care law will be good for the country. Forty-eight percent (48%) predict that the measure will be bad for America. Three percent (3%) think it will have no impact.
Since it passed, no more than 41% have ever rated the law good for the country. Belief that the law will be bad for the country has run as high as 57%. Most Democrats believe the health care law will be good for America. Most Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party disagree.
Voters with health insurance support repeal of the law more than those without insurance and also are more likely to think the law will be bad for the country.
GOP voters strongly favor repeal, and most think the law will force them to change their health insurance coverage. A sizable majority of Democrats oppose repeal and do not believe the law will make them change coverage. Unaffiliated voters are more narrowly divided on both questions.
Fifty-six percent (56%) of the Political Class oppose repeal, while 62% of Mainstream voters favor it. Those in the Mainstream are twice as likely as Political Class voters to think the law is likely to force a change in their health insurance.
Public perceptions of AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, are unchanged from November 2009 when the group endorsed the health care law. Fifty-two percent (52%) of voters hold at least a somewhat favorable opinion of AARP, while 34% offer an unfavorable review.
