Around this time 10 years ago, the Affordable Care Act was not at all popular, but the reform law’s Democratic champions insisted that in time, as Americans came to learn about and benefit from the ACA, support for “Obamacare” would grow.
They were correct. Gallup released the results of its annual Health and Healthcare survey, which was conducted last month. Among the notable findings:
Fifty-four percent of U.S. adults approve of the ACA, essentially tying the record-high 55% readings in April 2017 (during Republican-led attempts to repeal the law) and November 2020 (after Joe Biden won election as president). Approval has generally been 50% or above since Obama left office in 2017, but the law was far less popular during his tenure, ranging from 37% to 48% approval.
The same public-opinion research found that 62% of Americans believe it’s the federal government’s responsibility to ensure all Americans have health care coverage, which is the opposite of what Republican officials have long argued. Gallup also found that support for a government-run system has reached near parity with support for a model based mostly on private health insurance.
For ACA proponents, this is the good news. There is, however, plenty of less-than-good news.
The day before the Gallup data was released, Donald Trump appeared on “Meet the Press” and struggled mightily to speak intelligently on the issue. Over the course of roughly a minute, the Republican president-elect told NBC News’ Kristen Welker that he has “concepts of a plan that would be better” than the status quo — repeating an unfortunate line from his debate performance in September — before conceding that he still doesn’t have an actual plan, despite nearly a decade of effort.
As part of the same exchange, Trump claimed that “Obamacare stinks” — voters apparently disagree — before concluding, “I am the one that saved Obamacare,” which remains utterly bonkers.
In case that weren’t quite enough, the president-elect added that Americans would have “much better health care right now” if the U.S. Supreme Court had torn down the ACA altogether, though he didn’t explain why.
For those concerned with their family’s health security as Republicans prepare to take the reins of power, the comments hardly inspired confidence.
What’s more, for health care advocates, Trump’s bizarre on-air comments weren’t the only area of concern. It appears increasingly likely, for example, that the new GOP-led Congress will end Democratic subsidies, increase ACA premiums and push millions of Americans into the ranks of the uninsured.
As for officials on Capitol Hill, as recently as late October, House Speaker Mike Johnson unexpectedly targeted the Affordable Care Act, telling a Pennsylvania audience to expect “massive” health care changes in the United States if Trump returned to power. “Health care reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda,” the GOP leader added. The House speaker later claimed that he was taken out of context, but a video from the event didn’t do him any favors. When an attendee asked at the event, “No Obamacare?” Congress’ top Republican leader replied, “No Obamacare.” Soon after, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah declared online, “Kill Obamacare now.” Watch this space. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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