A statewide poll in mid-September showed 50 percent of respondents had an unfavorable view of the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) while 40 percent had a favorable view.
But Republicans may not want to dance in the street over the results of the poll conducted by the Marquette University Law School. A different view of Badger State opinion about Obamacare emerges from answers to other questions on the topic.
What should be done with the program? While 10 percent said they favored keeping the program as it is now, another 50 percent said it should be kept and improved. Some 19 percent said they favored scrapping and replacing it, while just 18 percent favored a flat-out repeal.
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has repeatedly voted for the full repeal of Obamacare. Since the U.S. Senate has been controlled by Democrats, there was little chance of repeal.
In Wisconsin, the most controversial issue in Obamacare has been the rejection of expanding Medicaid to those with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level. The federal government would have fully funded the expansion for several years. By 2020 federal money would have paid 90 percent of the expanded program.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker rejected full federal funding even though it would have saved the state government more than $200 million in the first two years. His decision kept the federal Medicaid participation rate at 58 percent of those otherwise eligible. Walker said he is concerned the federal government might renege on the high levels of funding a full expansion of Medicaid. Under his approach, the qualification cutoff for Medicaid in Wisconsin is at the 100 percent of poverty level.
Walker's approach ended Medicaid coverage for tens of thousands of working poor. They are eligible for federal subsidies to buy health insurance but by late September, some 26,000 had not signed up.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke said she would back the full expansion with the increase of federal money.
The Marquette poll showed Burke's position was favored by more than 2-to-1 margin over Walker's decision. It showed 61 percent of respondents favoring the additional federal money with 29 percent rejecting the money. Another 10 percent expressed no choice.
Charles Franklin, who directs the Marquette poll, said national surveys indicate that unfavorable attitudes toward the Affordable Health Care stem largely from the provisions that require citizens to obtain some form of health insurance through an employer program, a government program or buying a policy through an on-line program that is part of the Act.
It's not the first mandatory program in America to face criticism. Social Security in the 1930s and Medicare in the 1960s - both of which mandate tax payments by citizens - were assailed by conservatives.
The Walker re-election effort began running ads criticizing Obamacare and charging that Burke "unequivocally" supports Obamacare "and wants to expand it."
Burke does want to expand Obamacare by taking the federal money to expand Medicaid up to the 138 percent of the poverty line. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel examined Burke's positions based on newspaper, radio and TV interviews.
"Walker provided no evidence that Burke has expressed unequivocal support for the Affordable Health Care Act, and we are not aware of any," the Journal-Sentinel said in a "PolitiFact" report on Sept. 24.
It said the Walker camp cites an online MSNBC.com article that contained just one sentence about Obamacare. That article asserted that "Burke is an unequivocal supporter" of Obamacare and wants to expand Medicaid.
"There was no attribution for the statement nor quote to that effect from Burke," according to the Journal-Sentinel. The newspaper noted Burke has spoken about the start-up problems with the online signup for health insurance under Obamacare.
- Matt Pommer writes the weekly State Capitol Newsletter for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. His column is published Monday in the Times.
But Republicans may not want to dance in the street over the results of the poll conducted by the Marquette University Law School. A different view of Badger State opinion about Obamacare emerges from answers to other questions on the topic.
What should be done with the program? While 10 percent said they favored keeping the program as it is now, another 50 percent said it should be kept and improved. Some 19 percent said they favored scrapping and replacing it, while just 18 percent favored a flat-out repeal.
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has repeatedly voted for the full repeal of Obamacare. Since the U.S. Senate has been controlled by Democrats, there was little chance of repeal.
In Wisconsin, the most controversial issue in Obamacare has been the rejection of expanding Medicaid to those with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level. The federal government would have fully funded the expansion for several years. By 2020 federal money would have paid 90 percent of the expanded program.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker rejected full federal funding even though it would have saved the state government more than $200 million in the first two years. His decision kept the federal Medicaid participation rate at 58 percent of those otherwise eligible. Walker said he is concerned the federal government might renege on the high levels of funding a full expansion of Medicaid. Under his approach, the qualification cutoff for Medicaid in Wisconsin is at the 100 percent of poverty level.
Walker's approach ended Medicaid coverage for tens of thousands of working poor. They are eligible for federal subsidies to buy health insurance but by late September, some 26,000 had not signed up.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke said she would back the full expansion with the increase of federal money.
The Marquette poll showed Burke's position was favored by more than 2-to-1 margin over Walker's decision. It showed 61 percent of respondents favoring the additional federal money with 29 percent rejecting the money. Another 10 percent expressed no choice.
Charles Franklin, who directs the Marquette poll, said national surveys indicate that unfavorable attitudes toward the Affordable Health Care stem largely from the provisions that require citizens to obtain some form of health insurance through an employer program, a government program or buying a policy through an on-line program that is part of the Act.
It's not the first mandatory program in America to face criticism. Social Security in the 1930s and Medicare in the 1960s - both of which mandate tax payments by citizens - were assailed by conservatives.
The Walker re-election effort began running ads criticizing Obamacare and charging that Burke "unequivocally" supports Obamacare "and wants to expand it."
Burke does want to expand Obamacare by taking the federal money to expand Medicaid up to the 138 percent of the poverty line. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel examined Burke's positions based on newspaper, radio and TV interviews.
"Walker provided no evidence that Burke has expressed unequivocal support for the Affordable Health Care Act, and we are not aware of any," the Journal-Sentinel said in a "PolitiFact" report on Sept. 24.
It said the Walker camp cites an online MSNBC.com article that contained just one sentence about Obamacare. That article asserted that "Burke is an unequivocal supporter" of Obamacare and wants to expand Medicaid.
"There was no attribution for the statement nor quote to that effect from Burke," according to the Journal-Sentinel. The newspaper noted Burke has spoken about the start-up problems with the online signup for health insurance under Obamacare.
- Matt Pommer writes the weekly State Capitol Newsletter for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. His column is published Monday in the Times.
