New Poll Finds Americans Support the Affordable Care Act By a 15-point Margin
July 29th, 2010 by KarinaThe latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll released this morning finds that public support for the Affordable Care Act has held strong and unfavorable views have decreased:
By a 15-point margin, Americans express a favorable view of the new health reform law — 50% to 35% (down from 41% unfavorable in June).
By an 8-point margin, 43% of Americans believe that the country as a whole will be better off under the new law, while 35% believe that the country will be worse off.
Support among seniors is also growing:
The percentage of seniors who held an unfavorable view of the bill has decreased — from 56% to 46% (from April to July).
The gap between seniors who have a favorable vs. an unfavorable view of the bill has narrowed to 8%.
The poll also found only 27% of Americans support repeal. Despite this lack of support, House Republicans continue their efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In an interview published last week, House Republican Leader John Boehner repeated the GOP's intention of repealing the Affordable Care Act:
I guarantee there will be a bill on the floor that will repeal the healthcare bill…
And if the Republicans fail in their efforts to repeal the bill, Leader Boehner pledges they will simply refuse to fund it:
…and if they can't do away with healthcare reforms, they can cut the funding to hire people to run it.
“They're not going to get one dime from us to hire these new federal employees to run this,” he said.
The Affordable Care Act that Leader Boehner and Congressional Republicans want so badly to repeal puts Americans–not insurance companies–in control of their health care. Millions of Americans are already benefiting from the new law:
Insurance companies have stopped rescinding coverage of policyholders when they need it most»
Seniors hitting the prescription drug “donut hole” have started receiving their $250 check»
Employers already have new resources to help them maintain retirees' health coverage»
Many under 26 years of age have been able to stay on their parents' health plans»
And in September, even more reforms are implemented–like the new right to appeal decisions made by your health plan, free preventive care benefits, and the new Patient's Bill of Rights that:
Protects your choice of doctors
Removes insurance company barriers to emergency department services
Prohibits insurance plans from denying coverage or limiting benefits for children with pre-existing conditions
Bans arbitrary rescissions of insurance coverage
Prohibits insurance plans from placing lifetime limits on coverage and restricts the annual dollar limits on coverage by insurance plans
Congressional Republicans would repeal these protections and return consumers to a broken, unsustainable health care system. Today’s Kaiser poll once again shows the American people support the benefits Republicans want to take away from Americans.