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Poll: New Yorkers support health care law but feel costs will rise

Most New Yorkers agree with the recent Supreme Court decision upholding President Obama’s health care reform, but most think the new law, when fully implemented, will cause health care costs to rise.

The Siena College poll finds support for the Affordable Care Act is sharply divided along party lines.  Three quarters of Democrats want to see the federal health care law fully implemented, while three-quarters of Republicans want to see it repealed.

But even among supporters, only one in five voters think the law will actually increase health care access, and the vast majority believes that health care costs will go up as a result of the law.   Siena spokesman Steve Greenberg says Obama and the Democrats may have not done enough to convince voters of the benefits of the law.

“They’ve clearly got to do a better job of selling it,” says Greenberg, who says while GOP voters are unlikely to change their minds, independents and conservative Democrats could perhaps be convinced.

The poll also found that in the predominately Democratic state of New York, voters prefer to re-elect Obama over Republican candidate Mitt Romney by 61 to 34 percent.

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau Chief for New York State Public Radio, a network of 10 public radio stations in New York State. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.