Most New York voters support implementing federal health-care reform

New York voters who support implementing the federal health-care reform law outnumber voters who back repealing it, according to a Siena (College) Research Institute (SRI) poll taken after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upheld most of the law as constitutional.

The poll, which was taken between July 10 and July 15, was released this morning. It shows that 53 percent of the state’s voters want the law to be fully implemented, while 37 percent stand behind the idea of repealing it. The other 10 percent of surveyed voters voiced no opinion.

Nearly half of voters, 45 percent, said they agreed with the Supreme Court’s June 28 decision that affirmed key parts of the reform law. Just 28 percent disagreed with the decision. Another 26 percent of voters said they did not know enough about the topic to have an opinion, and 1 percent refused to answer SRI’s question.

“Overall, a plurality of New Yorkers agree with the Supreme Court’s decision that Obamacare is constitutional, and a majority want to now see the law fully implemented rather than repealed,” SRI pollster Steven Greenberg said in a news release. “There is, however, a huge partisan difference, as 76 percent of Democrats want to see the law implemented and 75 percent of Republicans want it repealed. Independent voters are nearly evenly divided, with 44 percent for implementation and 47 percent for repeal.”

About one-fifth of voters, 19 percent, believe they will have greater access to quality health-care professionals if the law is completely implemented. But 50 percent of voters say their access will remain the same, and 27 percent anticipate their access decreasing. Another 4 percent of respondents said they had no opinion.

Once the law is implemented, 44 percent of voters think their health-care costs will increase, and 38 percent expect their costs to remain the same. Only 13 percent predicted their costs will decrease. The final 5 percent of respondents offered no opinion.

SRI made random telephone calls to 758 registered voters in New York state to develop the survey. The institute statistically adjusted data by age, party, and gender. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com