Advice from GOP Pollster David Hill

Republican pollster David Hill urges complete-repeal supporters to look beyond responses to dichotomous (yes/no) opinion-survey questions on jettisoning the 2010 health care reform law.

Talking Points Memo Urges Nuance

Talking Points Memo reviews recent polling on health care reform, finding that "the public’s opinion on health care reform is disparate, riddled with qualifications and subject to change when new information is introduced. And it turns out Americans don’t really hate it."

Poll on What Supreme Court Should Do in Upcoming Obamacare Case

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows greater opposition than support for the 2010 health care law, by a 52-41% margin. In addition to asking about overall support/opposition, the poll probed attitudes toward the individual-mandate aspect of the law, which is the central part of an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court hearing. One key question (as shown in this statistical report) asked the following:

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments about the health care law later this month. Of these three options, which would you prefer to have the Supreme Court do: 1) (uphold the entire law), 2) throw out the part of the law that requires individuals to have coverage and keep the rest of the law, or 3) (throw out the entire law)?

The results showed 42% of respondents (and by extension, of U.S. adults as a whole) wanting the Court to throw out the entire law, 25% wanting the individual mandate to be voided but the rest of the law upheld, and 26% in favor of upholding the entire law.

Trends and Demographics on the ACA

The Pew Research Center is out with its latest public opinion survey on the health care reform law. Quoting from the accompanying news release:

Overall, 47% approve of the law, while 45% disapprove. The 47% approval represents an uptick in support since January 2011 (41% approve vs. 48% disapprove). Since the bill became law on March 23, 2010, disapproval of the legislation has been fairly steady, ranging from 44% in April 2010 to 48% in January 2011. Approval has shown somewhat more movement, from a low of 35% in July 2010, to a high of 47% in the current survey.

Pew also provides a table with many demographic comparisons. The reform law is most popular among Black and Hispanic respondents, 18-29 year-olds, holders of a bachelor's degree or higher, respondents with a family income of $30,000 or less, and Democrats. Slightly more political independents disapprove (47%) than approve (44%) of the law, with Republicans heavily in opposition.