Kaiser health tracking poll: ObamaCare hurt Dems in midterms

In March soon-to-be former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in response to ObamaCare critics, said, "We have to pass the bill to find out what's in it." Well, voters know what's in it--and that's why Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) is replacing her in January.

From the Kaiser Family Foundation:

The November 2010 tracking poll was conducted in the days following the mid-term election that resulted in major gains for Republicans, including a shift in control of the House of Representatives. The survey attempts to gauge what role health reform played in voters’ decisions, and to measure the current public mood about the health reform law.

The poll finds that voters say health care reform was a factor that influenced their vote, but not a dominant one. The economy/jobs was the factor mentioned by voters most often (29%), followed by party preference (25%) and views of the candidates themselves (21%). Health care ranked fourth at 17 percent. Those 17 percent of voters who named health care as one of their top voting factors were more likely than non-health care voters to back a Republican candidate for Congress (59% vs. 44%), and to say they have a "very unfavorable" view of the law (56% vs. 33%).

ObamaCare faces more trouble. The GOP tidal wave means there will be more Republican governors. And While they can't fully block implementation of ObamaCare, they can stimy it.

From the Washington Post:

Republicans' consolidation of power in state capitols is likely to expand the number of states that employ a far more limited, free-market-oriented approach to implementing the nation's new health-care law than the robust regulatory model favored by its supporters.

Although the law is a federal statute, it tasks states with administering many of its most important provisions and grants them considerable leeway.

It is up to states to run markets, known as "exchanges," through which individuals and small businesses will be able to buy health insurance plans, often with federal subsidies, beginning in 2014. States will also oversee a mostly federally funded expansion of Medicaid to cover a far larger share of the poor.

Many incoming Republican governors made their antipathy to the law a plank of their campaigns. Tennessee Gov.-elect Bill Haslam denounced it as "an intolerable expansion of federal power." Wyoming Gov.-elect Matt Mead promised to join 21 states contesting its constitutionality in federal courts. And Maine, one of the first states to set up a task force to implement the law, will now be led by Paul LePage,a tea-party favorite who vowed to work against the legislation and predicted that voters would soon see headlines about him telling President Obama to "go to hell."

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