The New England Journal of Medicine published an analysis of 27 national opinion polls by 12 survey organizations on the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) led by Robert Blendon who serves as senior associate dean for Policy Translation and Leadership Development at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. By looking at the average of recent polls, the research team offered a framework for viewing how the public as a whole saw the issues in this most recent debate.
The detailed findings included in the analysis included that as of June and July 2017, the public remained split in its assessment of the ACA, but more people approved than disapproved of the law (49% vs. 44%). It also showed that approval for the ACA increased 5 percentage points between 2012 and the time of the 2017 House and Senate debates.
According to the analysis, a majority of the public preferred to keep the number of people covered by Medicaid the same as it is now (72%), while 22% wanted to reduce the number receiving Medicaid to what it was before the ACA to reduce government spending and taxes
Another finding from the analysis was that less than one fourth of the public believed that insurers should be allowed to charge more for people with preexisting conditions (24%).
The researchers concluded that “the most important change over time was not the increase in public approval of the ACA, but rather the increase in overall support for universal coverage. When confronted with millions of people losing coverage, the public became more supportive of the principle that the federal government should ensure coverage for them.”
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