Think tanks, policy wonks, legislative staffers, and politijunkies are eagerly awaiting the Supreme Court’s ruling on King v. Burwell. As for the rest of the country, most have clue why this case is so crucial.
John David Danielson of The Federalist addressed this issue Thursday:
According to a new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 7 in 10 Americans have heard little or nothing about King v. Burwell, the U.S. Supreme Court case that will, any day now, decide the fate of Obamacare’s health insurance subsidies for millions of Americans. Yet 63 percent of those surveyed also say that if the court rules against the government, Congress should act to keep those subsidies in place.Got that? The vast majority of Americans know almost nothing about this case, but 63 percent have an opinion about what Congress should do in response to a ruling that carries certain policy implications.
Thanks for nothing, Media.
But what about those enrolled in Obamacare? The Foundation for Government Accountability surveyed voters enrolled in a federal exchange heath care plan. Obamacare customers do think Congress should act to change the law, but not for the same reasons as the general respondents surveyed in the Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
Overall, the enrollees reported a less-than-positive ObamaCare experience: a majority of them have seen their premiums and out-of-pocket costs increase or remain stagnant. Likely compounding this negative sentiment, the poll found that a large majority of enrollees were forced into the exchange while only a small number joined voluntarily.If the Supreme Court strikes down the ObamaCare subsidies in federal exchange states in its decision later this month, the majority of enrollees want Congress to make broad changes to ObamaCare (even more so than the general population), not just for their own benefit, but changes to benefit all Americans. Enrollees blame Congress, not the states, for the potential loss of their subsidies and expect Congress to cleanup the mess they have created. These attitudes largely transcended party lines.Overall, exchange enrollees are politically diverse, but enrollment in ObamaCare has not pushed them to the left. While enrollees tend to lean Democratic, they appear to be up for grabs in 2016.
Yet another survey conducted by the FGA in federal exchange states found that 49% of voters polled believed Obamacare hurt the nation, and that 46% believe Congress is to blame if Obamacare subsidies for federal exchanges are thrown out by the Supreme Court. Similar to the Kaiser Family Foundation findings, 63% would urge Congress to make changes to Obamacare, and 75% want changes made to help everyone, not the few benefiting from the law as its currently written.
Both data sets highlight a broader issue that one of the FGA’s surveys touched upon — Obamacare doesn’t benefit (or harm, depending on your view) all Americans equally.
Independent Women’s Voice explain’s these “two Americas.”
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