Positive views on Obamacare have hit an all-time high as the future of the healthcare law is in limbo, a new poll shows.
The poll, released Friday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, shows that 55% of voters view the healthcare law favorably, compared with 37% of voters who view the law unfavorably. The favorability is the highest level it has been since KFF began tracking attitudes on the law 10 years ago.
The new poll comes the same day Supreme Court justices are scheduled to meet and discuss whether to take up a case that threatens to wipe out all of Obamacare. The lawsuit has the support of the Trump administration, though the White House has asked the Supreme Court to hold off on a decision about the case until after the 2020 elections.
One factor in the jump in Obamacare’s popularity is a decline in Republican antipathy toward the law. A total of 3% of GOP voters see repealing Obamacare as a top healthcare issue, a significant drop from when the poll was taken ahead of the 2016 election when 29% of GOP voters saw it as a top issue. Ahead of the 2018 election, 18% of GOP voters had it as a priority.
Now, 24% of these voters say they favor reducing healthcare costs. Another 19% favor opposing “Medicare for all,” the healthcare plan from Bernie Sanders, and 15% want to increase access to healthcare.
The poll also revealed where voters stand on the future of the healthcare system at a time when Democratic presidential candidates are split over how far to involve the government in covering the remaining uninsured and in reducing costs. It found two-thirds of voters favor the creation of a government insurance plan, known as a “public option,” for people to buy into instead of private health insurance.
A total of 52% of voters agree with “Medicare for all,” which would gut all private health insurance in favor of enrolling everyone living in the United States into a government plan.
