Poll: ObamaCare more popular than House GOP healthcare bill

The Affordable Care Act is significantly more popular than the House GOP plan to repeal and replace the law, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

The survey, released Thursday as Senate Republicans unveiled a draft of their own healthcare reform legislation, found that 41 percent of Americans say ObamaCare is a good idea while 38 percent say it is a bad idea.

By comparison, just 16 percent said they see the House GOP plan as a good idea — a 7-point drop from the 23 percent approval it had shortly after it was passed in April.

{mosads}

About 48 percent of respondents said that the House healthcare overhaul was a bad idea, according to the poll.

The poll results were released Thursday as Senate GOP leaders released a draft of their healthcare reform legislation.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said the Senate bill “tracks” closely with the House legislation, while President Trump expressed hope that the Senate would pass a plan “with heart” and said the upper chamber’s bill would be “negotiated.”

The Senate version calls for deep cuts to Medicaid and does away with ObamaCare’s individual mandate, which required people to purchase health insurance.

Former President Obama’s signature 2010 healthcare reform law long suffered low approval ratings, and Republicans have campaigned on repealing the measure for years.

But the ACA has found new popularity as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans work to undo the healthcare law.

According to the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 39 percent said they do not want Republicans to continue their efforts to do away with the law, though among those respondents, 28 percent said that lawmakers should work to fix and improve it.

About 38 percent want lawmakers to continue their charge to repeal and replace the ACA. 

The survey of 900 adults was conducted June 17-20 with an overall margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.