The Affordable Care Act is enjoying unprecedented and widespread support in California as it enters its third signup period.
More than 60 percent of voters support the healthcare reform law, with just 33 percent opposed, according to a new California Field Poll.
That 62 percent support rating is up from 56 percent shown in the Field Poll of 2014.
“While views about the ACA remain highly partisan, for the first time, majorities of voters in all major regions of the state, all races and ethnicities, and all age groups back the law,” researchers for the Field Poll say.
Covered California, the state’s Obamacare operation, finds itself with a higher profile. Almost half of voters under age 65 told pollsters that they had visited the Covered California web site. That’s a significant increase from last year. Of those who visited the web site 55 percent said they were satisfied with their experience there, while 40 percent were not.
The voters broadly approved of Covered California’s rollout of the healthcare reform program, which provides private health insurance and, in most cases, subsidies for getting coverage. 68 percent of those surveyed found the state program successful, up from 60 percent last year. Just 20 percent said Covered California had not been successful.
“The view that the state has been successful in implementing the ACA crosses party lines, and includes large majorities of Democrats and no party preference voters, as well as a plurality of Republicans,” the Field Poll found.
Voters were nearly split, however, on how successful the state Obamacare operation has been in holding down premiums. Despite seeing average price increases of about 4 percent in the first two years, a slight majority of those surveyed said Covered California had not been successful in limiting the rate increases that insurance companies charge their customers.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of Obamacare subsidies drew support from 74 percent of those surveyed, the Field Poll said:
In light of the ruling, a nearly two-to-one majority now thinks the major provisions of the law are probably here to stay. In addition, two in three of the state’s likely voters say that a candidate’s position on the ACA will be very important to their vote for president and congress in next year’s elections.
Researchers said their results suggested 58 percent of the state’s registered voters now favor extending Medi-Cal for undocumented residents, while 39% are opposed. “This represents a significant increase in voter support from last year.” Latinos reported the highest level of
support for the idea, with 77% in favor.
The Field Poll, conducted under a grant from The California Wellness Foundation, reached 1,555 California registered voters by telephone, June 25-July 16.
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