This month’s Kaiser Family Foundation poll on health reform focused on the upcoming Supreme Court case of NFIB v. Sebelius. According to the latest survey, the requirement that everyone obtain health insurance or pay a fine continues to be unpopular. This month's poll finds the public more than twice as likely to have an unfavorable rather than favorable view of the provision (67% to 30%), very much in line with findings of previous Kaiser polls. Reflecting this dislike for a mandate, 54 percent of Americans say the court should rule the individual mandate unconstitutional, while just 17 percent say they think it should be found constitutional. Roughly mirroring public views on the mandate, 55 percent of the public say they expect the justices to find the mandate unconstitutional and 29 percent expect the justices to find it constitutional. The KFF poll also continues to show that even as PPACA approaches its second anniversary in March, the law continues to be unpopular with the American public, with 44 percent having an unfavorable view of the measure. But only 40 percent of Americans want the law to be repealed completely or replaced with a Republican alternative, which tells us that most Americans don’t wake up in the middle of the night worrying about what will happen to insurance markets nationally if the mandate is repealed but most or all of the rest of the law is upheld and implemented. We thought we were in the distinct minority with our agita, but we appreciate the scientific confirmation.

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The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently declared unconstitutional the “individual mandate” provision of health care reform, which requires people to buy health insurance. It held, however, that the rest of the law could stand.
This differed from a decision offered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which declared the entire law constitutional. A third federal appeals court is also expected to review the case. Many experts believe that this decision will prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to review the law, possibly after its current recess ends this fall.

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