Americans’ views of the Affordable Care Act remain stable, with a slight majority, 53%, disapproving. More than four in 10 Americans want the law kept with major changes, while 37% want the law repealed and replaced.
Americans’ assessments of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) remain relatively unchanged after the Nov. 8 election, with more continuing to disapprove (53%) than approve (42%) of the law. Going forward, the vast majority of Americans want to see the law changed. This includes the 37% who want it repealed and replaced, along with a total of 43% of Americans who want the law kept, but with major changes.
Americans’ Approval of the Affordable Care Act and Preferred Corrective ActionsBased on national adults
% Approve 42 Keep in place as is 14 Keep but change significantly 28 Unspecified 1 Disapprove 53 Keep but change significantly 15 Repeal and replace 37 Unspecified 1 No opinion 5 GALLUP, NOV. 9-13, 2016
In its annual November Healthcare update, conducted Nov. 9-13, Gallup asked Americans who approve of the ACA if they would like it kept in place as is, or kept but with significant changes. Similarly, Americans who disapprove of the ACA were asked if they wanted to keep it but with significant changes, or repeal and replace it.
Putting the responses to these two questions together, an overall total of 43% of Americans — a group that includes some who approved of it initially (28%) and some who disapproved (15%) — want to change the ACA significantly without repealing it. That is a slightly larger percentage than the 37% who disapprove and wish to see it repealed and replaced. Fourteen percent of Americans approve of the ACA and wish to keep it as is.
Disapproval of the ACA Has Been the Norm
Since Gallup began regularly tracking Americans’ overall evaluations of the ACA four years ago, approval has exceeded disapproval only once, in November 2012, shortly after President Barack Obama’s re-election. Since then, disapproval has averaged 52%, while approval has averaged 42%.
Via Gallup