Americans remain divided on the health reform law, but more voters consider the economy more important in deciding how they will vote, according to poll results released Monday.
The poll was conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has been tracking opinion on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act every month.
In the October poll, 40 percent of registered voters said they viewed the law favorably, while 46 percent saw it as unfavorable. Among likely voters – those who said they were “absolutely certain” to vote – 39 percent had favorable views, while 49 percent had unfavorable views.
Views on health reform have remained relatively steady since April. Last month, those who saw the law as favorable had a slight edge.
Only 10 percent of registered voters – and 11 percent of likely voters – said health reform was the most important issue in deciding their vote. Thirty-five percent ranked the economy and jobs first. In addition, “dissatisfaction with government” was the most important issue for more Republicans and Independents than health reform was.
Forty-three percent of those surveyed said candidates were paying too little attention to health care reform. Twenty-one percent said they were paying it too much attention.
The poll was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates Oct. 5 through 10 with a random sample of 1,202 adults 18 and older reached by landline and cell phone. The margin of error for the full sample was plus or minus 3 percentage points.