Voter Survey Service

The Public is Dubious about Obama care

Posted on February 27, 2013. Filed under: General Politics, In The News |

Our new PA statewide poll conducted Feb. 15-18 (N=700) shows Pennsylvania voters are very nervous about how this whole Obama care thing will work out.

In the poll, which was mainly conducted on behalf of our corporate clients, SP&R tested perceptions on how implementation of the new law will impact both health care costs and the economy in general.  The results are startling, and quite scary.

By a margin of 60-27, voters believe the Affordable Care Act will increase the costs of healthcare for both businesses and consumers.   This is a margin of better than 2:1.  How can this be good news for the Obama Administration when they have sold this law partly on the premise that it [the overhaul] will reduce costs for employers and consumers?  Isn’t this also what insurance companies were told?  Our past surveys for the business community show that most employers (nearly 8 in 10) say the costs of health care have already gone up not down over the years.  And now we have Joe Public weighing in with similar anxieties.   So if public sentiments are accurate, and costs will in fact increase, how can businesses absorb these additional costs?  And quite frankly why should they?  These results are proof that employers’ suspicions towards this new law are not only justified but completely understandable given what the public already knows about this new law.

To make matters worse, a comfortable majority of 53% think this new law will have a negative impact on job growth and the economy.  Only 30%, or less than one in three, say the law will be a good thing for the economy.   This is downright scary.  In the same poll, the economy was named as the top issue facing the Commonwealth – the 6^th year in a row that economic anxieties trumped all other issues dating back to 2007.  So given voters’ fears about the impact of this law on the economy, can the President really afford to overhaul something this massive if it risks jeopardizing consumer spending at such a critical time?  This is such a precarious time for the economy’s recovery, and this new law may only serve to undermine whatever job growth we are poised to have in coming months and years.

Politicians like to say they put their full trust and confidence in the voters, but in this case I’m guessing team Obama is praying voters are dead wrong on this issue.  So if these results are right, the president may wish to beef up his PR efforts to win over a clearly dubious public.

Results to SP&R’s questions on this topic are available.

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