More than half of Americans say the Supreme Court should rule that the health overhaul law’s requirement to have health insurance or pay a fine is unconstitutional, a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds.

The poll by the nonpartisan foundation finds that 54 percent of those surveyed say the Supreme Court should rule against the mandate while only 17 percent say the court should uphold it and 29 percent either don’t know or didn’t answer.

Roughly mirroring public views on the mandate, 55 percent of the public say they expect the Justices to find the mandate unconstitutional and 29 percent expect the Justices to find it constitutional.

Still, the public does not expect the entire law to go away if the Supreme Court rules against the mandate. A majority (55 percent) believes parts of the reform law will still be implemented even if the Court strikes down the individual mandate, while 30 percent think a ruling against the mandate effectively will mean the end of the entire law.

Just 37 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the PPACA.

Additionally, the poll finds most Republicans don’t agree with the attack on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney that he holds the same views on health care as President Barack Obama. Despite repeated reminders that Romney signed a 2006 Massachusetts law that is similar in some respects to the national health reform law, nearly half of Republicans say the two men’s views are different, 30 percent say they are similar, and another 22 percent had no opinion.

Instant Insights /

Poll: Court should reject mandate

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