President-elect Donald Trump vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act once in office, but a new poll shows many Americans from both parties support much of the law.
The Kaiser Family Foundation conducted the poll, and discovered that only a quarter of Americans want the whole law repealed.
The breakdown of the results:
- 26 percent want to repeal the entire law.
- 17 percent want to scale back the law.
- 19 percent want to continue implementing the law as is.
- 30 percent want to further expand the law.
"While President-elect Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress work on a replacement to the Affordable Care Act, the new poll finds many of the law's specific provisions remain popular even among President-elect Trump's supporters, potentially complicating the path ahead," the poll's authors note.
"It's long been clear that what is driving opposition to the law are the mandates," Robert Blendon, Harvard University expert on public attitudes towards healthcare, told The Chicago Tribune, speaking of the provision in the ACA that requires Americans have health insurance or face a tax penalty.
He notes that while many Americans view the law unfavorably, most overwhelmingly support many of its key provisions.
The survey also found that the call for a total repeal among Republicans fell in the last month:
- 69 percent said to repeal the whole law in October;
- 52 percent said the same in November;
- 11 percent said to scale back the law in October;
- 24 percent said the same in November.
Additionally, two-thirds of those who want the ACA repealed want it replaced with an alternative sponsored by their party.
"Among Americans who have the most polarized attitudes towards the ACA — those who want to see it expanded or repealed — some attitudes can be swayed after hearing arguments for or against repeal or expansion of the law," the authors continue.
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