Poll: Just 17 Percent Of Americans Support The GOP Senate Health Care Bill

Nearly two-thirds of Americans surveyed are unhappy with Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare.
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Americans largely do not approve of the GOP Senate health care bill, and many of them are dissatisfied with the way Republicans in Congress are handling the matter, according to a new NPR/“PBS NewsHour”/Marist poll.

The findings, released Wednesday, suggest that just 17 percent of those surveyed approve of the GOP Senate health care bill. More than half of respondents said they disapprove of the legislation, while 24 percent said they hadn’t heard enough about it to have an opinion.

Senate Republican leaders said this week that they will postpone a vote on their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, after their own party members voiced opposition.

Under the proposed legislation, roughly 22 million fewer Americans would have health insurance coverage by 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Medicaid and other financial assistance programs for low- and middle-income people would shrink dramatically if the bill were signed into law.

As expected, Democratic approval of the bill is extremely low, according to the poll. Republicans offered only modest support of the bill ― 35 percent approve of the bill and 21 percent oppose it.

The poll, which surveyed 1,205 adults between June 21 and June 25, found that just 25 percent of Americans want to repeal the ACA completely. Over 45 percent said they want changes to the ACA that would allow the legislation to do even more, while 7 percent said they want changes that would allow the ACA to do less.

Sixty-five percent of Americans, including 36 percent of Republicans, disapprove of the GOP’s handling of health care. If Congress fails to repeal and replace the ACA, the poll suggests the GOP would bear most of the blame. Thirty-seven percent of those surveyed said Republican members of Congress should be held responsible for such an outcome, while 23 percent would blame the Democrats.

President Donald Trump would escape most of the blame, the poll suggests. Just 14 percent of Americans surveyed would point the finger at the president.

Participants were interviewed by telephone using live interviewers. There is a ± 2.8-percentage point margin of error. A subset of 995 registered voters were also surveyed, with a ± 3.1-percentage point margin of error.

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