More Voters Than Ever Oppose ObamaCare Regulations On Coverage

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With millions of Americans having their health insurance plans canceled under the new law, more voters than ever oppose the ObamaCare regulations requiring every insurance plan to cover the exact same set of medical procedures.

Amid a failed rollout plagued with problems and millions of Americans losing their health insurance as a result of the law, 40 percent now oppose ObamaCare regulations, up from 33 percent in early October and the highest level measured to date, while 25 percent are undecided.

As far as the law itself, the new Rasmussen survey finds found 43 percent of likely voters now have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of ObamaCare, while 53 percent view it at least somewhat unfavorably. Adding to the credible of the spread, a Battleground survey of 1000 likely voters conducted by George Washington University found the identical 43 – 53 percent opposition to ObamaCare.

Of those 77 percent of likely voters who have been following the failed rollout of ObamaCare, 47 percent say they are less likely to favor the law, 42 percent say it made no difference, while just 9 percent say they are now more likely to favor the law.

The passion and intensity remains on the side of the opponents, as it did despite the small bump in favorable during and immediately following the shutdown. Though the law’s favorability ratings have never been above water, the new findings include 18 percent with a “Very Favorable” opinion of ObamaCare, while 42% have a “Very Unfavorable” one.

Unfavorables are now up from 48 percent just two weeks ago, while favorable reviews are down 3 percent. Rasmussen, who begin to trail off on the fringe on health care polling, found that positive favorables of the health care law have fluctuated from a low of 39 percent to a high of 47 percent in Rasmussen’s regular weekly tracking throughout the year.

On the other hand, unfavorable ratings have moved from 48 percent to 55 percent, but those with “Strongly Unfavorable” views have outnumbered those with “Strongly Favorable” views constantly, much of the time by as much as 2 to 1.

Interestingly, according to Rasmussen 36 percent of all voters believe the government should require every health insurance plan to cover the exact same set of procedures, showing no change from a month ago.  But many millions of Americans have yet to receive their cancellation notices, and according our PPD study, upwards of 140+ million will receive such a notice by the end of 2014.

The PPD study shows a definite pattern of regulation writing intended to throw Americans off their polcies, and 71 percent of voters believe it is “at least somewhat likely” that President Obama or senior officials in his administration were aware long before the law began being implemented that health insurance costs would go up for some Americans, despite what they said publicly.

The Heritage Foundation released a conservative alternative to ObamaCare last week based on choice, and 78 percent believe individuals should have the right to choose between different types of health insurance plans, including some that cost more and cover differing procedures, which is the highest level of support for choice measured to date. Now, just 8 percent disagree, in line with the number of Americans who constantly identify as “liberal,” with 13 percent who say they are not sure.

Astonishingly, even more voters 84% think individuals should have the right to choose between different types of health insurance plans, including some with higher deductibles and lower premiums and others with lower deductibles and higher premiums. Only 6 percent of American voters don’t believe individuals should have that right to choose, while 10 percent are still undecided.

Other conservative alternative proposals enjoy broad support among American voters, with 73 percent of voters supporting the proposal allowing employers and individuals to buy health insurance across state lines. Republicans and other supporters of this proposal correctly argue that the increased competition will drive down prices to consumers, and just 12 percent disagree — again, in line with “liberal” identification — and think employers and individuals should only be allowed to buy plans approved for their state.

Another 15 percent are undecided on the issue of buying health insurance across state lines. Though support and opposition to ObamaCare hinges on party identification, when it comes to support for individual choice in purchasing health insurance plans, there is little partisan disagreement.

So far, younger Americans remain largely unaware of regulations compelling them to purchase insurance that they know little about, including cost, which may explain why voters over 40 remain much more likely than those who are younger to view ObamaCare unfavorably.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on November 1-2, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Related Rasmussen Survey Findings:

Most voters want to scrap or change the health care law but are evenly divided over whether Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should lose her job because of its troubled debut.

Voters remain overwhelmingly positive about the health care they receive but are less enthusiastic about the overall health care system. Just over half continue to believe the health care system will get worse under the new law.

Given the problems surrounding the websites established by the law to sell health insurance, 51% favor delaying the mandate that every American have health insurance by January 1.