In strategy and substance, the American public disagrees with the course that President Trump and congressional Republicans are pursuing to replace the Affordable Care Act with conservative policies, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Large majorities oppose the ideas at the heart of the most recent GOP negotiations to forge a plan that could pass in the House. These would allow states to choose whether to keep the ACA’s insurance protection for people with preexisting medical problems and its guarantee of specific health benefits.
Public sentiment is particularly lopsided in favor of the current federal regulation that blocks insurers from charging more or denying coverage to customers with medical conditions. Roughly 8 in 10 Democrats, 7 in 10 independents, and even a slight majority of Republicans say that should continue to be a national mandate, rather than an option for states to retain or drop.
‘‘All states should be required to do the same thing,’’ said Bayonni Handy-Baker of Killeen, Texas, who supports nationwide requirements on both preexisting conditions and minimum benefits for insurance plans. As the 25-year-old Army veteran and political independent reasoned, ‘‘When you have people picking and choosing what to cover, you have this system of holes and disruption and disorder.’’
Beyond their criticism of GOP proposals for devolving health policy to the states, many Americans appear leery in general about a major overhaul to the health-care law often called Obamacare, with 61 percent preferring to ‘‘keep and try to improve’’ it, compared with 37 percent who say they want to ‘‘repeal and replace’’ it. Roughly three-quarters of Republicans prefer repealing and replacing the ACA, but more than 6 in 10 independents and nearly 9 in 10 Democrats favor working within its framework.
Those views heighten the challenge for Trump and congressional Republicans as the House returns Tuesday from a two-week recess after a remarkable failure last month in attempting to pass a health-care bill. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, who has championed the ACA’s repeal for years, canceled a vote on the American Health Care Act shortly before the roll call was to begin because the chamber’s Republican majority was so splintered.
Since then, the White House has been prodding GOP lawmakers to regroup, unite, and vote quickly on a new version of the legislation, and members of the House’s most conservative faction and a more moderate group have been working toward that goal. House Republican leaders, however, have made clear they do not believe a plan is ready to be voted on and instead have focused on budget and tax issues.
The Post-ABC poll shows that the president’s strategy of trying to develop a plan with conservative Republicans contrasts with the public’s desire for a bipartisan approach. A 43 percent plurality of Americans say he should work with Democrats to change the law, while 26 percent would rather Trump work with the conservative Republicans. Another 24 percent volunteer that he should work with both groups.
Trump has said he is open to a bipartisan approach but he has put the onus on Democrats to offer concessions and predicted that Democrats would have to come to him ‘‘after Obamacare explodes.’’
