Likely voters in California are now less likely to think that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act health care changes will help them and their families.
But low-income and middle-income Californians are more optimistic about the law than they were at the beginning of the year.
The Public Policy Institute of California found when it surveyed 1,703 adult California residents in mid-September that just 22 percent of likely voters expect PPACA-related changes to help them and their families, down from 27 percent in January.
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The share of participants who think PPACA will help them personally fell to 16 percent, from 22 percent, for those with annual income over $80,000, but it rose to 32 percent, from 29 percent, in the under-$40,000 income category, and to 27 percent, from 21 percent, in the $40,000-to-$80,000 income category.
Optimism about PPACA among Californians ages 18 to 34 rose sharply — to 30 percent, from 21 percent — even though many actuaries expect PPACA underwriting rules to raise young insurance buyers' rates.
Overall support for the law fell slightly.
The percentage of Democrats who back the law fell 1 percentage point, to 75 percent, and the percentage of Republicans who support it also fell 1 percentage point, to 18 percent.
Support among independents rose 2 percentage points, to 46 percent.
The margin of error is 3.7 percent.
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Allison Bell
Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.
