New polling from
NYT/CBS News shows that the uninsured are unsure about Obamacare. While that's going to be the main story coming out of this poll, there's a lot more to it that suggests the prospects for the law, and Democrats running on it, aren't doomed.
Slightly more than half, 53 percent, of the uninsured surveyed disapprove of the law. Just a third think the law will help them, with about the same number thinking it will hurt them because it will cost too much. You're going to hear a lot about that. But there's much more to consider here.
- Fifty-five percent of respondents, and 57 percent of the uninsured disapprove of how President Obama is handling the new health law. But, almost three-quarters of people, 73 percent, disapprove of how Congressional Republicans are handling the law, including 70 percent of the uninsured.
- Fifty-three percent of all respondents, and 65 percent of the uninsured believe the federal government should be providing health care for the poor. Even more striking, a majority says “providing access to affordable health care coverage for all Americans is the responsibility of the federal government,” by 54-43, and 64-33 among the uninsured.
- Seventy percent of the public says that "when individuals don't have health insurance" it "hurts the country."
- Repeal is still unpopular. Fifty-three percent of people think the law is basically good, but needs some changes to make it better. Only 37 percent say it should be repealed.
- Just 41 percent think the law goes too far in changing the health care system, and a total of 50 percent say either it doesn’t go far enough (28) or it is about right (22).
The basic case for the law has been made and the American public accepts it. They accept the law, but would like to see it improved, and they trust Democrats to do that. Those basics have remained unchanged in polling for months and months. And for months and months, much of the unease with the law has been concern that it will cost people more (52 percent of people in this poll think so) and won't do much to improve their own health care (42 percent, here). The cost issue is going to be a problem. While many purchasing new plans under the law will see their premiums decrease, any increase in premium rates—inevitable with health insurance—is going to be blamed on Obamacare. It just is, regardless of the fact that that's just what happens with health insurance. But people will realize that it's not making their care worse, and that they're getting some actually good stuff—without additional out-of-pocket spending.
As the law progresses and the health care system isn't destroyed by it, the unease the public feels will lessen. People are willing to give it a chance, and would really like to see it improved. That's the political space that Democrats need to work in, and where they need to marginalize Republicans who are still talking about scrapping the whole thing.