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MO: Mizzou study finds little national support for health care law

By   /   June 22, 2012  /   1 Comment

Jeff Milyo

By Johnny Kampis | Missouri Watchdog

As Americans wait to hear if the Supreme Court will strike down all or parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a study by two Missouri University economics professors finds that the legislation widely known as Obamacare does not garner much nationwide support.

Jeff Milyo and Lilliard Richardson surveyed 1,000 Americans last fall and discovered that most respondents disapproved of the health care reform, anticipate the Court will strike down at least part of the law and hope the Court will eliminate the law completely. The professors released the study, which has a margin of error of 4 percentage points, last week.

Milyo told Missouri Watchdog Friday that what most surprised him about the results was the lack of conviction for the reform from Democrats.

“They tend to support it, but not as strongly as you might expect,” he said.

An overwhelming number of Republicans dislike the act, with more than 80 percent of those polled disapproving it. On the flip side, less than half – 49 percent – of Democrats surveyed said approve of the plan.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents expect the Supreme Court to strike down all or part of the law, while 50 percent said the court should strike down all or part of the law. Thirty percent said the act should be eliminated in total.

Milyo wouldn’t tip his hand on which way he expects the judges to rule.

“I’m not placing any bets,” he said, but added, “The results of the Supreme Court’s decision are likely to have serious repercussions on the presidential election.”

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Johnny Kampis

  • kafantaris

    So you don’t like the individual mandate in the health care law.
    Fine.
    What would you replace it with?
    Why do you think Newt Gingrich back in Hillary’s days was for it — after they had looked at everything else?
    There was no way around it.
    “The insurance mandate is socialism, plain and simple.”
    If it’s socialism, you’d have to buy it from the government, which would also tell you what doctor or hospital to go to. But you can buy health insurance from anybody, and you can get treated by the doctor and hospital you want. What’s socialist about that?
    “Can’t you see, the government is making us buy insurance. We have no choice in the matter.”
    Do you have a choice not to get hurt, or not to get sick? Why then do you want a choice not to have insurance to pay for it when you do?
    States in fact already have an individual mandate for car insurance, and they have been putting uninsured drivers in jail for years.
    “That’s different. Driving is a privilege.”
    Then free health care must be a right in your book. Maybe this idea came from hospitals continuing to treat the uninsured the last half century.
    The tradeoff to us living in a civilized society is that we have to follow rules we don’t agree with. In return, we get great many things, including goods and services that otherwise would be unavailable. But, we still have to pay for them. The mandate makes sure that we do.
    What’s wrong with that?