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Boston, July 6, 2012. The Supreme Court decision to uphold Obama´s 2010 health care reforms has temporarily improved his media ratings and lead in the polls, but risks are still high as the media narrative has yet to shift into the implications of this new policy, according to Media Tenor International.

“The debate on Obama´s health care policy has been mostly philosophical,” says Casey Smith, analyst at Media Tenor. “Proponents of the reforms have speculated on the benefits of health care access and overall cost reductions with very little media insight into the functionality of the policy and how it will affect taxes. Most voters are still unaware of how and what this policy means for the average American,” adds Smith.

Overall, media coverage on the issue since January has only focused on the passing of Obamacare. Obama has been silent on the details of reform, i.e., funding of the health care system and costs and quality of services, while Romney has yet to offer an alternative to Obama´s policy – which he has been very critical about.

Romney´s higher share of voice on the issue has not been enough to generate more positive ratings for himself across the major TV networks. NBC drives the negative tonality against Romney, while ABC is the only network which has been positive on Obama.

“Although this is a success for Obama, he remains vulnerable to the debate on how this affects the finances of American households,” says Smith. “In addition, Romney faces the bigger challenge of offering voters an alternative to Obamacare if elected. This will be difficult without media coverage on the policy implications.”

Meanwhile, media tonality on the economy stays at record low levels.

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