A majority of Americans think that President Trump is actively trying to make Obamacare fail, a new poll finds.
The survey released Wednesday from the research firm Kaiser Family Foundation found that 56 percent believe Trump is trying to make the law fail and 32 percent think Trump is trying to make it work. Of the people who say that Trump is trying to make the law collapse, 47 percent believe that is a bad thing.
A majority of respondents — 58 percent — also believe that Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress are responsible for problems associated with the law moving forward.
The poll results come as Obamacare allies and Democrats charge that Trump and congressional Republicans have made moves to undermine the law. They point to the repeal of the financial penalty for the individual mandate starting in 2019, which was passed as part of the tax law last year.
Other moves include regulations by the Trump administration to expand access to cheaper plans that offer fewer benefits than Obamacare plans. Critics charge that the plans and removal of the individual mandate penalty will cause younger and healthier people to flee Obamacare’s insurance marketplaces.
Kaiser’s poll found that a candidate’s position on continuing protections for people with pre-existing conditions was the top healthcare issue for voters. The poll found that 74 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of independent voters, and half of Republicans at 49 percent all listed continuing protections for people with pre-existing conditions as the most important factor in their 2018 vote.
Kaiser also looked into support for the Medicaid expansion in states that have not expanded it under Obamacare. As of July 20, there are 14 states that didn’t expand Medicaid and three considering it, Kaiser said.
“Among those living in states that have not yet expanded Medicaid, half (51 percent) support their state expanding their Medicaid program,” Kaiser said in a release. “A majority say they would be more likely to support Medicaid expansion if there is a work requirement included in the expansion.”
So far the Trump administration has approved requests from four states — Kentucky, Indiana, New Hampshire, and Arkansas — to install work requirements. Several other states have pending requests before the Trump administration.
But a federal judge has blocked Kentucky’s work rules program, calling it an attempt to roll back Obamacare’s reforms to expand Medicaid.
The poll was based on a sample of 1,200 adults and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
