Half of Kentuckians have unfavorable view of healthcare law, but majority wants opponents to move on

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Nov. 29, 2012) — Poll data released Wednesday by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky indicate that while one in two Kentuckians have a generally unfavorable view of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the majority want ACA opponents to move on to other national issues. The Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) also found Kentuckians have mixed views on the next steps Congress should take regarding the ACA.

KHIP highlights include:

• Thirty-four percent have a favorable opinion of ACA, 50 percent unfavorable, and 16 percent said they do not know.

• Fifty-five percent of respondents said opponents of the healthcare law should stop their efforts to block it, while 35 percent said they should continue. Ten percent answered that they did not know.

• Nineteen percent of poll participants said Congress should keep the healthcare law as it is; 28 percent said Congress should expand the law; 23 percent said it should be repealed and not replaced; 19 percent said the law should be repealed and replaced with a Republican-sponsored alternative; and 11 percent said they did not know.

“It’s also interesting to note that this poll shows close to 30 percent of Kentuckians think the healthcare law should actually be expanded while almost one fourth of the people in this poll think the law should be repealed and not replaced,” said Dr. Susan Zepeda, President/CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. “Our polling aims to provide impartial and timely reports our policy makers as they make decisions about our healthcare system.”

The poll also found that 58 percent of Kentuckians say they need more information about the ACA to fully understand how it would affect them personally. Just four in 10 (41 percent) say they have enough information about the healthcare law to understand how it would affect them personally.

KHIP has tracked Kentuckians’ views about the Affordable Care Act since it became law in March 2010. In June, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the ACA, but it remains the subject of debate. The most recent KHIP asked Kentuckians about their views on the future of the law.

The KHIP was funded by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. The poll was conducted Sept. 20 through Oct. 14 by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. A random sample of 1,680 adults from throughout Kentucky was interviewed by telephone, including landlines and cell phones. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percent.