After Speaker Paul Ryan addressed the nation in shirtsleeves but before the Congressional Budget Office released its analysis, voters were wary of the Republican plan to overhaul Obamacare. As GOP leadership prepares to push, a new Morning Consult/Politico poll shows the electorate is lukewarm on the issue at best.
It’s not that voters don’t have the appetite for change. It’s that they’re not sure the proposal will live up to nearly a decade of Republican promises about better care, more affordable coverage, and easier access.
Altogether less than half the country, 46 percent, supports the package while more than a third, 35 percent, disapproves. But notably, more people strongly disapprove, 22 percent, than “strongly approve, 18 percent, of the package.
Though the numbers aren’t stellar, Republicans are lucky they’re not worse. Partisans on the left and the right have been more than happy to take shots at the legislation. While liberals grumble the bill guts Obamacare, conservatives complain it doesn’t go far enough. As the different camps continue to skirmish over the contents of the package, it’s not clear the bill can make it out of the House or even survive in the Senate.
As written now, voters aren’t sure what would happen if the proposal became law. Families are worried that the plan will increase costs. There are more voters, 36 percent, who expect more expensive care than voters, 22 percent, who expect cheaper care under the plan.
What’s more, a majority of voters believe that Republicans will decrease healthcare coverage. If the plan passes, 38 percent predict that it would decrease the number of people with insurance. A quarter of respondents, 25 percent, believed the opposite, that coverage would increase as a result of the plan.
And voters were split within the margin of error about whether the Republican healthcare plan would hurt or help quality. While 31 percent said quality would be improved, 30 percent said that it would be diminished.
While voters are still getting familiar with the Republican plan dropped last week, they’re more than familiar with the original healthcare overhaul, Obamacare. The country is even split on that bill, with 47 percent approving and 47 disapproving.
That means that as things stand now, Obamacare and its Republican replacement are roughly on par in public opinion. For a GOP that’s been promising a better way, that’s not encouraging news.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
