Poll: Californians divided over Obama’s health reforms as president’s job approval drops

Californians twice voted overwhelmingly for President Barack Obama, but they are split on his most important domestic policy achievement – health care reform.

A Public Policy Institute of California survey released Wednesday finds that just 44 percent of Californians favor Obama’s Affordable Care Act, while the same percentage has an unfavorable opinion.

In better news for the new law, two-thirds of uninsured residents say they plan to get insurance by next year now that it is more available to them. Nearly a quarter said they would opt to remain without health insurance.

At the same time, Obama’s job approval rating has taken a hit, with 51 percent of Californians approving. That matches a record low from two years ago and is down 10 points from last summer.

The survey was conducted the month after the Affordable Care Act’s online marketplaces went live on Oct. 1, a disastrous rollout for the federal exchange that serves 36 states.

The Public Policy Institute survey interviewed 1,700 adults by telephone from Nov. 12-19 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.