President Barack Obama’s health care law hasn’t always been beloved by the public. But it’s never been as unpopular as the Republican bill now intended to destroy it, according to the latest polling.
When the Affordable Care Act was signed in March 2010, after months of debate, about 42 percent of the public approved, according to HuffPost Pollster’s aggregate, with about 50 percent disapproving ― a level of discontent that proved to be bad news for Democrats and for Obama. At the law’s lowest ebb, in 2013, support fell to about 38 percent.
That level of support, however, seems downright robust in comparison with the pessimism that’s greeted the Republican bill, known as the American Health Care Act. Reactions to the proposal have been overwhelmingly negative, with most surveys finding less than one-third of the public in favor of the bill. Support reached a new nadir Thursday in a Quinnipiac poll, which found just 17 percent of voters expressing approval, and only 6 percent approving strongly.
Based on current polling, “it does look like it is significantly less popular than the ACA was in early 2010,” Liz Hamel, the director of public opinion and survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said in an email. She added that the public had been following the Obamacare “back-and-forth” for many months before that legislation passed, “which is different than the situation we’re in now with the AHCA, with things moving much more quickly.”
But the new GOP health care bill appears to be on the wrong end of an even wider intensity gap. In the latest Quinnipiac poll, 80 percent of Democratic voters disapprove, with 69 percent disapproving strongly. But offsetting support from the GOP isn’t there. Only 41 percent of Republicans approve, and just 20 percent approve strongly. In the most recent HuffPostYouGov poll, Clinton voters are 59 points more likely to strongly oppose the GOP bill than Trump voters are to strongly favor it.
GOP Health Care Bill Is More Unpopular Than Obamacare Ever Was | The Huffington Post
When the Affordable Care Act was signed in March 2010, after months of debate, about 42 percent of the public approved, according to HuffPost Pollster’s aggregate, with about 50 percent disapproving ― a level of discontent that proved to be bad news for Democrats and for Obama. At the law’s lowest ebb, in 2013, support fell to about 38 percent.
That level of support, however, seems downright robust in comparison with the pessimism that’s greeted the Republican bill, known as the American Health Care Act. Reactions to the proposal have been overwhelmingly negative, with most surveys finding less than one-third of the public in favor of the bill. Support reached a new nadir Thursday in a Quinnipiac poll, which found just 17 percent of voters expressing approval, and only 6 percent approving strongly.
Based on current polling, “it does look like it is significantly less popular than the ACA was in early 2010,” Liz Hamel, the director of public opinion and survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said in an email. She added that the public had been following the Obamacare “back-and-forth” for many months before that legislation passed, “which is different than the situation we’re in now with the AHCA, with things moving much more quickly.”
But the new GOP health care bill appears to be on the wrong end of an even wider intensity gap. In the latest Quinnipiac poll, 80 percent of Democratic voters disapprove, with 69 percent disapproving strongly. But offsetting support from the GOP isn’t there. Only 41 percent of Republicans approve, and just 20 percent approve strongly. In the most recent HuffPostYouGov poll, Clinton voters are 59 points more likely to strongly oppose the GOP bill than Trump voters are to strongly favor it.
GOP Health Care Bill Is More Unpopular Than Obamacare Ever Was | The Huffington Post
