Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Healthcare Reform Law

29 March 2012

Washington, DC - These are the findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters from March 26th - 27th, 2012 about healthcare law.

Major findings include:

The American public doesn't really trust anyone in Washington on healthcare. When given a list, the plurality says "none of these" (31%), "doctors and health practitioners" (18%) and don't know (15%). Well over President Obama (14%), Democrats in Congress (9%) or Republicans in Congress (7%).
The healthcare reform law remains unpopular: 56% say they oppose the healthcare reform bill passed into law in 2010.

However, healthcare reform in principle is widely favored. A third of those who oppose the law (21% of the total population) oppose it because they think it doesn't go far enough to reform healthcare. That means that if you combine those who favor the law (44%) and those who think it should go further (21%), you get a majority of Americans (65%) in-favor of healthcare reform, just not necessarily this one.

Awareness of the Supreme Court review is high. 54% are aware the healthcare law is being reviewed by the Supreme Court - awareness is particularly high among Republicans (64%).

Among those aware of the review, the impact of the coverage is split with 30% saying it has made them more favorable towards the law, 30% less favorable and 41% don't know.

Repealing healthcare remains a polarizing issue. A large majority of Republicans (72%) say running on repeal would make them more likely to vote for a Member of Congress, only 28% of Democrats and 29% of Independents say the same.

These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters from March 26th - 27th, 2012. For the survey, a sample of 1,953 Americans was interviewed online. The precision of the Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points for all respondents. For more information about credibility intervals, please see the appendix.

The data were weighted to the U.S. current population data by gender, age, education, ethnicity and a political values scale. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. Figures marked by an asterisk (*) indicate a percentage value of greater than zero but less than one half of a per cent. Where figures do not sum to 100, this is due to the effects of rounding.

More data and full technical details are available in the topline document attached.

For more information on this news release please contact:

Chris Jackson Research Director, Public Sector Practice Ipsos Public Affairs 202.420.2011 [email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. In October 2011 Ipsos completed the acquisition of Synovate. The combination forms the world's third largest market research company.

With offices in 84 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of e1,363 billion (1.897 billion USD) in 2011.