Americans on the Individual Mandate, and More

Americans overwhelmingly believe the so-called "individual mandate" included in the U.S. healthcare reform law is unconstitutional. They said so by a margin of 72% to 20% in a Gallup poll conducted Feb. 20-21, 2012. Americans on average are not lawyers, of course, but their views give an indication of the public's general view on the case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court this week.

Gallup published these findings in late February, in a broader story about Americans' views on repealing the law passed in 2010. Americans are much more divided on that topic, with 47% at that time saying they favored repealing the law and 44% saying they opposed repealing it.

It will be interesting to see if and how those views shift as a result of what happens in the U.S. Supreme Court case.

Gallup has been tracking Americans' views on the law from every angle, as well as its impact, including the percentage of Americans who have health insurance coverage.

Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport will be publishing a new "Polling Matters" blog this week with an analysis of the polling around the issue.

Gallup's Elizabeth Mendes will also be publishing new findings on Wednesday examining uninsured rates across U.S. metro areas.

For previous Gallup findings regarding the healthcare law, check out our healthcare tag page and this list of "need-to-know" healthcare facts.

To make sure you get all of our future healthcare stories as soon as they are published, be sure to sign up for Gallup news alerts.

In Like a Lion

March has brought with it some strong gusts of change on several key Gallup measures:

President Obama's job approval rating reached 49% over the weekend, up from his 45% average for February. This was Obama's best three-day average since early February and before that the highest since June 2011.

Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index also showed a sharp uptick over the weekend. The -13 average for March 8-10 was the most positive three-day economic confidence average recorded since Gallup began tracking in January 2008 and the -18 average for the week ending March 11 tied a four-year high.

U.S. satisfaction is up to 26% in March, matching a level last seen in May 2010. This key measure has been improving steadily since last August and September when it was at a near-record low of 11%.

All three of these metrics are among the survey-based metrics that matter most to election outcomes, making them critical to watch over the next few months.

Here's where you can find updates on all of the other key metrics:

• The Presidential Election Trial Heat: Daily updates and frequent stories on our Election 2012 page.
• Voter Enthusiasm: Here's the latest, and we have a new update coming Thursday afternoon.
• Positive Intensity: Here's the latest, with new updates coming periodically.
• Most Important Problem: The latest is included in our most recent update on U.S. satisfaction, and new updates come monthly.

We're reporting on all these metrics frequently. To make sure you're always up to date, sign up for news alerts and select "All Gallup Headlines."