Though in many ways, health reform was the big winner of last week's election, it was hardly the most important issue.
Kaiser Family Foundation's November Health Tracking Poll—fielded in the days immediately following last week's presidential election—found that it was the voters' sense of the characteristics and records of the candidates themselves rather than any one issue that was at the top of their minds when making a decision about who they elected. Second was the economy and jobs, followed by health care.
Though President Obama often earned the advantage on health care issues, both he and Republican contender Mitt Romney remained tied among voters who said the PPACA was a major factor in their vote, suggesting the controversial health law worked both ways in the election.
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The two candidates tied among the nearly 7 in 10 voters who said the PPACA was a "major factor" in their vote. Romney—who'd vowed to repeal the PPACA and replace it with other reforms—won 47 percent of the vote of this group compared to 46 percent for Obama.
Obama did have an advantage among the 7 in 10 voters who said the future of the Medicare program was a "major factor" in their vote, with 50 percent of this group backing the incumbent compared to 41 percent who voted for Romney. The candidates had long sparred over the Republican's proposal to introduce a system of premium support into Medicare, which the president opposed.
But still, Obama lost to Romney among seniors by 12 percentage points, according to exit polls. That's despite the fact that more seniors say they expect the president will do more good for the Medicare program than bad (45 percent vs. 35 percent).
Also notably, the survey found that the number of Americans who want to see the PPACA repealed dropped to a new low, at 33 percent. Beyond that, public opinion about the law remained roughly evenly split, with 43 percent of Americans holding a favorable view of the PPACA and 39 percent an unfavorable one.
Unsurprisingly, three in four Obama voters reported having favorable views of the law while eight in 10 Romney voters reported the opposite.
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