Republican voters want action on healthcare, strengthening President Trump in negotiations with GOP opponents of the party’s bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
To be sure, Republican voters are concerned about the potential shortcomings of the American Health Care Act, say party insiders who have reviewed recent private polling examining the opinions of GOP voters. But above all, these voters want the Affordable Care Act repealed, the surveys of Republicans in battleground states and House districts with upcoming special elections revealed.
That could give Trump the advantage as talks on proposed changes to the AHCA continue ahead of a scheduled Thursday House vote and conservative and moderate critics weigh the political risk of sinking the legislation.
“It’s very popular among our folks, and this is a framework that we feel we can defend very well,” Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, claimed. “We have a president in Republican districts that, in most cases, is more popular than the Republican congressional incumbent.”
Stivers, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP campaign arm, based his assessment on an internal national poll conducted for the NRCC before the AHCA was introduced earlier this month.
The NRCC declined to divulge specifics of the poll’s findings. But Stivers’ description of the survey’s conclusion — that Republicans prioritize action over delay — was consistent with that of the GOP sources who have seen the poll and discussed it with the Washington Examiner.
Additionally, the NRCC’s polling fits with other private GOP surveys gauging Republicans’ opinions on healthcare. The pollsters who conducted these surveys were not authorized by their clients to publicize of the data but did agreed to discuss the broad outline of what they discovered.
Michael Meyers, a Republican consultant who polled in battleground states, said Republican voters want Congress to act swiftly to repeal and replace Obamacare. Democratic and independents in battleground states are also are anxious for healthcare reform, although they might not be happy with fixes backed by Republicans.
A second Republican pollster, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly, said surveys of Republican voters set to participate upcoming special House elections in Georgia, Montana and South Carolina, showed a similar desire for immediate action on healthcare.
Calls to slow the process, on the grounds that the AHCA is flawed and needs refining, are not likely to be met with sympathetic ears. That’s because Republican voters, both GOP pollsters said, are putting a premium on action after seven years of promises to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s health law.
“Republicans are far more likely to advocate for full repeal and replace, while Independents are pretty evenly split between full and partial repeal options, but both groups reject leaving ACA as is,” Meyers said. “That is where voters are focused these days, not on the D.C. intrigue of legislating.”
Republican sentiment is key because conservatives from staunchly GOP House districts have been more aggressive than moderates from swing districts in whipping opposition to the AHCA, a joint proposal of Trump and House GOP leaders.
Led by the House Freedom Caucus and a few conservative senators, these Republicans say the AHCA is fatally flawed and needs major changes.
They’re claiming the support of Republican voters, saying this group of Americans did not elect Trump and GOP majorities in the House and Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act “in name only” and replace it with “Obamacare-lite.”
But that’s a difficult argument to win in a debate with Trump.
Republican voters have a higher opinion of Trump than their member of Congress, including in conservative districts, and that they place a high priority on repealing Obamacare, a law that they believe is failing and responsible for raising insurance rates and reducing their access to quality care.
“Inaction could cost them in the 2018 GOP primaries, and possibly the midterm election,” said the Republican pollster who has examined surveys in districts preparing to hold special elections.
“Republican voters are in lockstep in opposition to the Obamacare law, and want to see action. Anything less than that, likely to see a significant backlash,” the pollster said.
Conservative opponents are trying to secure amendments to the AHCA that would more aggressively replace Obamacare’s regulatory regime and replace it with a market-driven scheme. They plan to offer a proposal on Wednesday, when the bill is processed by the House Rules Committee.
Moderate opponents and some conservative pragmatists are attempting to win changes that would relax the rollback of the expansion of Medicaid enacted under the Affordable Care Act that has been accessed by many middle-class voters.
Senior Republicans privy to the House GOP’s whip count — the number of House Republicans already committed to voting for the AHCA — say that the bill is in better shape than is widely believed. Optimism for the bill’s prospects in the House stems from their faith in Trump to forge consensus.
Correction: The original version of this story missated when the NRCC poll was conducted. It was conducted prior to the unveiling of the American Health Care Act.
