Support For Repealing Obamacare Plunges To An All-Time Low
Now that President Obama has been elected to a second term, political opponents of his landmark health care reform law are beginning to concede that Obamacare is here to stay. And the general public agrees.
As a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll reports, the majority of Americans don’t support repealing Obamacare. In fact, after the presidential election, the number of Americans advocating for a full repeal of the health reform law dropped to an all-time low at just 33 percent — compared to nearly half of Americans who would rather keep the law in place:
Last week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) acknowledged that Obamacare is “the law of the land,” suggesting that Republicans in Congress may finally cease their repeated attempts to repeal the law. But his office quickly walked those statements back, clarifying that Republicans remain very committed to opposing Obama’s health reform.
However, if Republican lawmakers continue to stand in opposition to Obamacare by undermining some of the health law’s key provisions, public opinion still isn’t on their side. Previous polling has shown that Americans tend to be broadly supportive of Obamacare’s individual provisions — such as allowing young adults to remain on their parents’ insurance plans, and preventing insurance companies from discriminating against Americans with pre-existing conditions — even if they remain unsure about what the entire law means for the country.
The declining support for repealing the health law is a blow to the anti-Obamacare candidates who poured over $20 million into advertisements attacking the Affordable Care Act during the 2012 election cycle. On the other hand, at least six candidates in tight races across the country won last week after advocating for the health reform law throughout their campaigns.