According to a new CBS News/New York Times poll, for the first time in the poll’s history, more Americans approve than disapprove of the Affordable Care Act.
Approval of the law has risen by four points (47%) in the past month while disapproval has fallen by eight points (44%).
According to CBS News, “Most Republicans (72 percent) continue to oppose the law, while most Democrats (70 percent) support it. Independents are split. Still, few Americans (just 9 percent) think the health care law is working well and should be kept as it is, and 31 percent want the law repealed entirely. Most – 55 percent – think that there are some good things in the law though changes are needed to make it work better.”
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Republicans are falling out of step with the rest of the country on healthcare as 55% wanted the ACA repealed while 65% of Democrats and 55% of Independents thought that the law contains good things, but some changes are needed.
Pressure is also growing on the Supreme Court as a whopping 70% of those polled said that they wanted subsidies to continue. The data suggests that if the Supreme Court rules against the subsidies, Republicans will have to act fast to keep the subsidies flowing, or they will be tap dancing on a political landmine ahead of the 2016 election.
In other words, the opposition to the health care law that Republicans thought would carry them back to the White House could end up destroying them if they take away access to affordable health care from millions of Americans.
The political landscape on Obamacare has shifted, and Republicans are on the wrong side. Republicans were wrong about Obamacare. All of the gloom and doom that they predicted has not come true. What has happened is that the American people have gotten a taste of what an affordable and accessible health care system can be, and they want more.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
