Fifty-five percent of U.S. residents believe the Supreme Court will rule that the federal health reform law's individual mandate is unconstitutional, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll, Kaiser Health News reports (Carey, Kaiser Health News, 1/26).
Kaiser conducted the poll from Jan. 12 to Jan. 17 across a nationally representative sample of 1,206 U.S. residents ages 18 and older. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Expectations About Court Ruling
According to the poll, 55% of surveyed residents believe other reform law provisions still will be implemented if the mandate is struck down. Meanwhile, 30% said a ruling against the mandate would lead to the dismantling of the entire law (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 1/26).
Respondents were pessimistic about the high court remaining unbiased in its decision on the overhaul, according to the survey.
Almost 60% of respondents said they expect the high court justices to consider their personal ideology and politics over legal analysis when ruling on the individual mandate, compared with 28% who believe the justices will base their decision solely on the law (Kaiser Health News, 1/26).
Expectations About Effects of Law
The poll also found that:
- 53% of respondents expect the law to benefit uninsured residents, while 25% expect the law to negatively affect uninsured residents;
- 32% expect the law to benefit hospitals, while 33% expect the law to negatively affect hospitals; and
- 28% expect the law to benefit physicians, while 37% expect the law to negatively affect physicians (Daly, Modern Healthcare, 1/26).