O-ba-ma-care those four syllables form a fighting word during this presidential campaign.

Some 42 percent of Kentuckians say the future of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is one of their top two issues in the presidential election, according to a poll by the non-profit Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. Of those polled, 45 percent think Republican Mitt Romney will do a better job with health care, compared to 40 percent who favor health-care reform architect Barack Obama.

"Kentuckians remain very concerned about health care and health insurance," said Susan Zepeda, chief executive officer for a Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

That concern stretches from the family room to the board room. Mark Turner, senior vice president of communications, said a Commerce Lexington poll this summer showed "a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the law." He said "a very large majority" were unsure of the effect or expected it to have a negative effect.

Phil Greer, owner of Greer Companies in Lexington, is sure.

"It's going to be a catastrophe," he said.

Greer has 6,000 employees at 30 restaurants, but he still sees his Lexington-based company as a family business. And for Greer and his son, Lee, Obamacare is a looming disaster overall, but as business owners they are particularly concerned about a government mandate that businesses offer employees insurance or pay a penalty.

The Greers offer health insurance to full-time employees, but father and son worry the cost will rise as more employees sign on to meet the requirement of an individual mandate. Lee Greer said costs of individual insurance plans will inflate because Obamacare requires that insurance companies match the minimum offerings of state-sponsored plans.

Beyond that, he said, the increase in health care will eat deeply into the company's profits. But, he said, employees in companies like his that already operate with a slim profit margin will suffer the most as they find their hours reduced to cover the increased cost of insurance.

Ultimately, he said, Obama care will raise the cost of everyday living, further hurting those at the bottom of the wage scale. Even the Greers' Cheddar's restaurants, which target the middle class with good food at low prices, will have to raise prices. "I'm either going to have to close my doors or raise my prices," Phil Greer said.

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Voters Voices: Kentuckians, like candidates, grapple with health care issues