Rasmussen: 55% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law; Voters trust Republicans more than Democrats, 48% to 40%, on the handling of the issue of health care

Health Care Law
55% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law
Monday, October 11, 2010 Email to a Friend ShareThis.AdvertisementThe majority of U.S. voters continue to favor repeal of the new national health care law but are slightly less emphatic about the impact the law will have on the country.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 55% of Likely U.S. Voters at least somewhat favor repeal of the new health care law. Only 39% oppose repeal. These figures include 41% who Strongly Favor repeal and 32% who are Strongly Opposed. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Since Congress' passage of the bill in late March, support for repeal has ranged from a low of 53% to a high of 63%.

But 41% now say the new health care law will be good for the country, the highest level of optimism measured since early July. Forty-nine percent (49%) still believe the law will be bad for the country, but that's the first time that belief has fallen below 50% since March. In prior surveys, those thinking the law will be good for America have ranged from 32% to 41%; in those same surveys, 49% to 57% have predicted it will be bad for the county.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on October 8-9, 2010 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.

Consistent with findings since passage of the bill, 79% of Republicans and 56% of voters not affiliated with either major party favor repeal of the health care law, while 59% of Democrats hold the opposing view.

Similarly, 75% of Mainstream voters favor repeal, but 53% of the Political Class are opposed.

Thirty-eight percent (38%) of those voters with health insurance say it’s likely the new health care overhaul will mean they have to change their insurance coverage. Fifty-two percent (52%), however, disagree and say it’s not likely they will have to switch their coverage. These findings show little change since mid-June.

Among those same voters who have health insurance, an overwhelming majority (82%) rate their coverage as good or excellent. Just four percent (4%) rate their health insurance coverage as poor. These findings, too, have been fairly consistent since June.

With midterm elections scarcely a month away, voters rank health care second just behind the economy on a list of 10 important issues on voters’ minds this November.

Voters trust Republicans more than Democrats, 48% to 40%, on the handling of the issue of health care.