Obamacare: Republicans Want Affordable Care Act Repealed, But New Poll Shows Most Americans Don’t
In the face of quite a few obstacles in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act's key provisions (see here and here), most Americans remain optimistic about the new health care reforms despite Republicans' persistent calls for their repeal.
According to the latest United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, only 36 percent of adults want to outright repeal the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), meaning the majority of Americans would prefer to seek alternatives to appeal. In fact, most Americans would not mind if the government spent more money to find solutions to the Acts's implementation problems rather than do away with it all together.
This news comes just a week after Republicans voted for the 39th time in hopes of repealing Obamacare, saying that the White House is ill-prepared for the law's implementation. On the one hand, the GOP could be correct in its assertions. The Affordable Care Act's employer mandate and smoker penalty provisions were delayed recently. In addition, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) expressed doubts that Obamacare's health insurance exchanges — which are supposed to be opening in 34 states — would meet the administration's October 1st deadline.
"Much progress has been made in establishing the regulatory framework and guidance required for this undertaking, and [the administration] is currently taking steps to implement key activities of the [exchanges]," the GAO report said. "Nevertheless, much remains to be accomplished within a relatively short period of time."
A majority of Americans agree with the GAO's assertions. According to the National Journal poll, most adults think that the Obama administration is not prepared to implement the law and will encounter other major problems as key deadlines loom. Still, 48 percent of those surveyed said, "Congress should keep the program to expand coverage because it's important to reduce the number of Americans without health insurance."
So are the GOP's consistent calls to repeal Obamacare alienating American voters? Not necessarily.
According to the Washington Post, many Republicans who oppose the Affordable Care Act are still committed to making sure that, if the new reforms are implemented, their constituents reap the benefits.
"Congressman Terry believes that it's unfortunate Obamacare even exists, but he takes seriously his responsibility to represent the people of Nebraska's 2nd District. This is an issue of fairness, and while Congressman Terry doesn't agree with this law, it's his job to make sure the law works for the 2nd District," said a spokesman for Republican Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska, who is a fierce opponent of Obamacare.
But not all House Republicans feel that way. Representatives Tim Huelskamp and Jason Chaffetz said that they won't help constituents who want to participate in the various Obamacare programs. They even went so far as to say that they would forward any questions about the health care reforms to the president himself.
"We know how to forward a phone call," said Rep. Chaffetz.
In the face of the recent implementation setbacks, the Obama administration maintains that the Affordable Care Act's key provisions will take place as planned, benefitting millions of Americans.
"We are on target to open the health insurance marketplace on Oct. 1 where small businesses and ordinary Americans will be able to go to one place to learn about their coverage options and make side-by-side comparisons of each plan's price and benefits before they make their decision," Valerie Jarrett wrote on The White House Blog.
The National Journal poll was conducted between July 18 and July 21 and surveyed 1,000 American adults. For more on the poll results, go to NationalJournal.com.