Study Shows Fewer Than 3 in 10 Americans Want Obamacare Repealed
Republicans in the House have held over 50 votes attacking Obamacare since 2011, and four of these votes have been for an outright repeal of the healthcare law. These votes are nothing more than symbolic since they have no chance of being signed by the President, and when it comes down to it, these attempts at repeal are simply wasting taxpayer dollars. What these partisan politicians haven’t noticed, though, is that support for repealing the law has dropped drastically.
NO SUPPORT FOR REPEALING OBAMACARE
The Kaiser Family Foundation released its Health Tracking Survey on April 21, and it shows that public support for the Affordable Care Act continues to rise. Those who view the law favorably make up 43 percent of the population, and those who view it negatively make up 42 percent. While this difference is mediocre, it is the first time since November 2012 that more Americans have held a positive view of the law than not.
The number that’s especially telling, though, is how many people want Obamacare repealed. Even many of those who view Obamacare unfavorably would rather the law simply be updated than repealed. Check out this graph from Kaiser:
Americans support Obamacare.
So from this graph, you can see that 46% of Americans think the law is perfect as it is or that it should be expanded. About 12% of Americans want the law scaled back… but not repealed. Those who want the law fully repealed only make up 29% of the population. This support is obviously strongest amongst Republicans; a full 58% of GOP voters want Obamacare scrapped.
But let’s think about what that means. That means that 42% of Republicans don’t want Obamacare repealed. So nearly half of their voter base is now against the constant and pointless attempts to get rid of the law. When 42% of your base is against the actions you’re taking, you might want to reconsider those actions.
REPUBLICAN VOTERS JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND
Though Democrats will take these numbers as a great sign, they’re also a bit depressing. When asked what they think Congress and the President’s top priority in health care should be, these are the answers respondents gave:
Don't repeal Obamacare
Depressing fact #1: While the main priority amongst everyone was ensuring affordability of drugs for chronic conditions, only 66% of Republicans named this as a top priority. By comparison, 87% of Democrats thought this was most important. Why is it that fewer Republicans care about people who are dying and need medicine?
Depressing fact #2: Of all the options given, including the government taking action to lower prescription drug prices, protecting individuals from being charged too much if treated by an out-of-network doctor, and making sure price information is readily available to patients — the second top priority amongst Republicans was still the repeal of the healthcare law.
Depressing fact #3: When looking at the few priorities that Republicans have outside of repealing the law, these priorities are covered in the Affordable Care Act. That’s right: all the things Republicans say they want the government to do? The Affordable Care Act does them.
Maybe this is a little like that time Republicans supported the “Affordable Care Act” but didn’t support “Obamacare.” Oh, or maybe like the time 74% of Republicans said they were with health coverage they received under the ACA, as long as you asked them about their coverage and not “Obamacare.” Moral of the story? Republicans who support repeal literally have no clue what they’re talking about.
Regardless of some people’s complete lack of information on what the Affordable Care Act is or does, the fact remains that only a minority of Americans now want the law repealed. The GOP lost when they tried to prevent the law from passing. They lost when they tried to have it overturned in court. They lost, several times, when they tried to overturn the law. And now, they’re losing the battle of public opinion.
That’s it, Republicans. Game over. Move on. There’s so many other things you could not be accomplishing. Might I suggest focusing your time on not passing a jobs bill? |
