WBUR RADIO BOSTON, February 15, 2012 — Across the national airwaves and on the Republican campaign trail, the Massachusetts coverage law that many now call “Romneycare” is routinely trashed.
Here’s Texas Gov. Rick Perry in a debate last October:
“Romneycare has driven the cost of small business insurance premiums up by 14 percent over the national average in Massachusetts.”
And from former Sen. Rick Santorum last month we heard, “it (Romneycare) was the basis of Obamacare and it was an abject failure.”
Selected WBUR Poll Data Points:
View On Massachusetts Health Care Overhaul:
- 62% of those polled said they support the 2006 law
- 33% of those polled said they oppose the law
Its Influence On National Law:
- A majority (54%) said they think the state law was a “major influence” on the national overhaul
- 28% said it was a “minor influence”
- 11% said it was “not an influence”
Romney’s Health Care Stance:
- 68% said they think Mitt Romney disagrees with the national overhaul because he’s “trying to win votes”
– Conducted Feb. 6-9
So you might think this drubbing would rub off on Massachusetts residents, about two-thirds of whom have consistently endorsed the state’s coverage plan since it passed in 2006. Not so. In the latest WBUR poll, 62 percent support the law and 33 percent oppose it.
“Even with all the attention the Massachusetts law has gotten nationally, it really hasn’t driven down support among voters here in Massachusetts,” said Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, which conducted the poll.
The difference between national and local opinions about the law is part politics, part misinformation, and partly a difference of experience, said Robert Blendon, a professor at Harvard Kennedy School. Massachusetts residents are living with the law. Opinions outside the state are based on speculation.
“A substantial share of Americans believe that the national law will fail and they assume that the Massachusetts law, which in their minds is related to this, is not working well either,” Blendon said.
That’s the case, said Blendon, even when he presents evidence to audiences outside Massachusetts that a strong majority of residents in the commonwealth are happy with the state law.
“People are convinced,” laughed Blendon, “it (the poll) can’t be right.”
In Massachusetts, most residents in the WBUR poll (68 percent) see former Gov. Mitt Romney’s opposition to the national law as an effort to win votes in his presidential campaign. Only 25 percent see his opposition as a disagreement based on principle.
“Taking that in concert with the level of influence people thought the state law had on the national law, at least it suggests there’s some difficulty distancing yourself from what happened nationally to what happened here at home,” Koczela said.
Which may translate into problems for Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who, like Romney, supports the state law but hopes to repeal the national law.
Malden resident Robert D’Ambrosio registered support for the state health care law in the WBUR poll and is not sure whom he supports in the Senate race. D’Ambrosio finds Brown’s position confusing.
“I don’t understand why he doesn’t bother the same with the national (law) as he does with the state,” D’Ambrosio said. “If you like one, how can you not like the other?”
Posted By: Richard Kigel
Saturday, February 18th 2012 at 12:49PM
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