Poll: 86 percent of Ohioans say healthcare a priority even if court throws out ACA

A new Ohio Health Issues Poll found that while less than half of Ohioans are closely following the Supreme Court case over the federal health reform bill, more than 8 in 10 Ohioans say that if the court does strike down the law, policymakers should continue to work on ways to provide access to affordable health care (Source: “Healthcare top priority regardless of court ruling,” Ohio Health Issues Poll/Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, June, 2012).

The 2012 OHIP, which is funded by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, found that support for some form of health reform cut across political lines, with 91 percent of Democrats, 87 percent of independents and 79 percent of Republicans saying that improving access to health care was an important priority for the president and Congress, should the ACA be ruled unconstitutional.

In spite of overwhelming support for reform, most Ohio adults are not following the Supreme Court case, with just 45 percent (or about 4 million) saying they are watching the case closely. About 70 percent of uninsured adults and 68 percent of adults living below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level report not following news of the case and more than 6 in 10 young adults, ages 18-29, are not following reports on the case.

“Young adults and the poor are uninsured at much higher rates than other demographic groups,” said Kate Keller, senior program officer for the Health Foundation, in a press release. “Yet large majorities of some of these groups are not following the Supreme Court case.”

[Full disclosure: The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati provides financial support to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.]