Polls and politics: How the high court's health law consideration is changing public sentiment

Recent polls generally indicate that last month's oral arguments changed public views about the health law, but it is not clear in which direction. There are also surveys and analysis about the law's under-26 coverage provision and whether people think seniors with higher incomes should pay more for Medicare.

Politico Pro: SCOTUS Health Polls Give Conflicting Verdicts
The Supreme Court arguments over the health care law changed some public sentiment over the high court -; but polls are getting conflicting answers about which way. The court's approval ratings are up about 13 percentage points since mid-March, according to a poll released Monday by Rasmussen Reports. But a poll released last week by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that more people have a negative impression of the institution. In the Rasmussen poll, 41 percent of likely voters rate the Supreme Court's performance as "good" or "excellent," up from 28 percent in mid-March (Haberkorn, 4/9).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: A Saturation Point For Under-26 Coverage?
According to a Gallup poll released last week, the uninsured rate among 18- to 25-year-olds has leveled off around 24 percent since early 2011 (Torres, 4/10). 

Politico Pro: Poll: High-Income Seniors Should Pay More
A new analysis of polling data by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds 54 percent of the public believes senior citizens with higher incomes should pay more for their Medicare coverage. The catch: Only a small minority of the public realizes higher income seniors are paying more already. The analysis, based on Kaiser Health Tracking data collected in February, looks at public opinion on different options for curbing the nation's health care spending on the entitlement program. Democrats and independents showed the most support for higher charges. Fifty-eight percent of Democrats and 57 percent of independents agreed higher income seniors should be charged more, compared to 46 percent of Republicans (Smith, 4/9).