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Healthcare 2nd most important issue in 2012 election

By Lindsay Kimble

The campaigns leading up to the November 2012 elections placed much emphasis on the fate of healthcare in the United States. President Barack Obama’s reelection helped to solidify the future of the healthcare system as detailed in the Affordable Care Act, which is better known as Obamacare. The law is likely to be implemented in its entirety by January 2014.

The debate concerning Obamacare, which the Supreme Court upheld in June, will likely continue as the Obama administration works to implement its new provisions. Many voters cited healthcare as a top issue when deciding for whom to vote.

In an online survey of 100 respondents, 96 percent said they voted in the 2012 elections. Of the 96 percent that voted, 66 percent named healthcare the second most important issue that affected their vote, after the economy.

Of the 100 respondents, 58 percent said they know “only basic information” about the Affordable Care Act, while 32 percent said they were “very familiar” with the Act, and 10 percent said they know “nothing” about the act. A tie of 21 percent of voters said the Affordable Care Act either had “little impact” or a “huge impact” on their vote, while 51.5 percent of respondents said it “had an impact” on their vote.

The Elon community's opinions closely align with the findings of a national poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation immediately following the election. When asked to identify the top two factors influencing their voting decisions, without provided choices, healthcare came in third for both Obama and Romney voters.

With Obamacare’s implementation, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects more than 30 million uninsured Americans will gain health coverage. The estimated cost of healthcare reform over the next 10 years is $940 billion. Nevertheless, the bill is expected to reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the next 10 years.

Other key aspects of the law oblige insurers to provide coverage for non-dependent children until age 26 and call for the eventual elimination of the doughnut hole in Medicare by 2020.