New WSJ/NBC Poll Finds Voters Have Doubts About The Health Law

As the November election approaches, the number of voters who think the overhaul is a bad idea outnumbers those who think it is good.

The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire: Americans Still Not Sold On Obamacare – WSJ/NBC Poll

Voters who think the federal health law is a bad idea still significantly outnumber those who think it’s a good idea heading into November midterms, the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows. Among all registered voters captured in the September poll, 34% are in favor of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and 48% are against it (Radnofsky, 9/9).

In other news, the Washington Post fact-checks an ‘Obamacare’ attack ad –

The Washington Post’s The Fact Checker: An ‘Obamacare’ Attack Ad Stuck In A Time Warp

Regular readers know that The Fact Checker and other fact checking organization have long criticized the use of the $700-billion figure. That number comes from the difference over 10 years (2013-2022) between anticipated Medicare spending (what is known as “the baseline”) and the changes that the law makes to reduce spending. The savings mostly are wrung from health-care providers, not Medicare beneficiaries — who, as a result of the health-care law, ended up with new benefits for preventive care and prescription drugs (Kessler, 9/10).

Meanwhile, GOP candidates face challenges on the over-the-counter birth control issue –

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Women’s Groups Challenge GOP Candidates On OTC Birth Control

At least four Republicans running for the U.S. Senate have proposed over-the-counter pills in recent weeks, including Ed Gillespie in Virginia, Cory Gardner in Colorado, Thom Tillis in North Carolina and Mike McFadden in Minnesota. All four have advocated the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and its requirement that most insurance plans cover all FDA-approved contraceptives for women. “I think over-the-counter, oral by contraception (sic), should be available without a prescription,” Tillis said in a debate with Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., last week. “If you do those kinds of things, you will actually increase the access and reduce the barriers for having more options for women for contraception.” Women’s health groups, however, strongly disagree (Rovner, 9/10).

New WSJ/NBC Poll Finds Voters Have Doubts About The Health Law