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POLITICS

Voters Tend To See Health Care Repeal As a Deficit Reducer

Although the Congressional Budget Office claims repealing the health care law will increase the federal budget deficit, a plurality of voters disagrees with that assessment.  At the same time, most voters feel free market competition will do more to cut health care costs than government regulation.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% of Likely Voters say repealing last year’s health care law will do more to reduce the federal budget deficit than allowing the law to be fully implemented.  One-in-three voters (33%) believe allowing the law to stand as is is a better way to reduce the deficit, while another 22% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Most voters have consistently favored repeal of the law since Democrats in Congress passed it last Match, and most continue to believe the law will increase the federal deficit and raise health care costs. 

Only 29% of voters predict that repeal of the health care law will increase the federal budget deficit. Thirty-six percent (36%) say repeal will reduce the federal deficit, while 23% say it will have no impact.

 With House Republicans poised this week to repeal the health care law, just over half (52%) of all voters say free market competition between insurance companies would do more to reduce health care costs than more government regulation.  Just 32% feel the opposite is true, while 16% are not sure.

 (Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

 The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on January 11-12, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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