As the second enrollment period for Obamacare kicks off, a new survey shows that the number of Americans who approve of the healthcare law has reached a new low. Open enrollment began Saturday and will continue through Feb. 15.
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Gallup poll reveals that only 37 percent of respondents support President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy which Republicans, set to take control of both chambers of Congress in January, are hoping to repeal, replace, or drastically change.
The figure is 1 percent down from January of this year, when just 38 percent said they approved of the law. Then, the country was still reeling from a multitude of glitches on the federal Obamacare website HealthCare.gov, which launched on Oct. 1, 2013.
In the new poll, a majority of Americans, 56 percent, said they disapproved of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is 1 percent higher than the previous number in that category.
Gallup said that the results were split along party lines, with Democrats supporting Obamacare at a much higher percentage than Republicans: 74 percent for Democrats to just 8 percent for Republicans.
The approval number for independents, who have never really gotten behind Obamacare, fell 6 points in a month to 33 percent, according to Gallup.
Although the research showed that a majority of nonwhites still approved of the law, the number fell by 6 points to 56 percent — the first time nonwhite approval did not exceed 60 percent. Also, only 29 percent of whites approve of the law.
"Americans have never been overly positive toward the ACA, at best showing a roughly equal division between approval and disapproval early on in the law's implementation," said Gallup's Justin McCarthy.
"The percentage of Americans who approve of the law represents a new numerical low, which could indicate a loss of faith in the law amid the aftermath of the 2014 midterms."
McCarthy added, "Although the ACA, also called Obamacare, was not as dominant an issue in this year's congressional elections as it was in 2010, the issue was part of Republicans' campaign efforts to oppose the president's agenda overall. In doing that, many of the party's candidates were successful."
The Gallup poll of 828 adults was conducted from Nov. 6-9 and has a margin of error of 4 points.
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