For the first time, the majority of Americans approve of Obamacare. The record high approval ratings, at 55 percent, come a week after the Republican Party’s failed attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
A Gallup poll conducted over the weekend found that the majority of Americans approve of the law for the first time since the polling firm began asking about it in 2012. Approval is up from 42 percent directly following the 2016 election, during which opposition to Obamacare helped elect President Donald Trump.
Members of all political parties were more likely to approve of the law now than they did in November after the election. Independents have the highest shift, with November’s 40 percent approval of Obamacare increasing to 57 percent now.
Trump, like Republicans in elections since the law’s adoption in 2010, campaigned on a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. The president vowed to replace it with a law that cost less but covered the same number of people. But Republicans were unable to usher their replacement bill through the House, following disagreements between party factions on what parts of the law should be modified or eliminated.
Many Americans do think the law can be improved: 40 percent of people want to keep Obamacare but with “significant changes.” Only 26 percent want to keep the law the same, and 30 percent want to repeal and replace it. Republicans are the most likely to favor that outcome at 60 percent.
There has been some effort to revive the repeal and replacement effort in the House, but the Trump administration has indicated it wants to move on to tax reform. Trump said he will “let Obamacare explode,” an outcome he argues is likely if no changes are made to the health care law.
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