WASHINGTON – The gap between Americans who view the Affordable Care Act favorably and those who do not is smaller now than at any time since the fall of 2012, a year before the law’s disastrous rollout, according to a monthly poll that has tracked attitudes about the polarizing law since President Barack Obama signed it five years ago.
The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, conducted in early March by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health policy research group, found that 43 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of the law, while 41 percent viewed it favorably. Although more Americans continue to reject the law than embrace it, the margin has narrowed considerably even since July, when 53 percent viewed it unfavorably in the Kaiser poll and 37 percent viewed it favorably.
Drew Altman, the foundation’s president, noted that the near closing of the gap had happened after a three-month open enrollment period that involved few technological problems and at a time when the law is not being as bitterly debated in Washington and in the states as it has been in the past.
“It reflects the fact that the last several months have not been a time when, compared to the past, the Affordable Care Act has been under sharp political attack,” Altman said.
Forty percent of respondents said they would like to see Congress repeal or scale back the law, while 46 percent said they would prefer that Congress move forward with carrying out the law or expand what it does. Still, Altman noted, most Republicans continue to oppose the law, and most Democrats continue to favor it.
“Opinion on the ACA is still stuck in an intractable partisan divide,” he said.
The poll also found that a majority of respondents were worried about the potential impact of a case before the Supreme Court that could limit health insurance subsidies available under the law to people in states that run their own online marketplaces. Sixty-two percent said such a ruling would have a negative impact on the country, while 23 percent said the impact would be positive.
The nationwide tracking poll of 1,503 adults was conducted March 6-12 using cellphones and landlines. Interviews were in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points for the full sample.
