U.S. adults are more likely than not to want to kill the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), but they also are more likely than not to say the federal government should make sure all Americans have health coverage.
Frank Newport of Gallup Inc., Princeton, N.J., has published PPACA and general health reform poll results in a commentary based on results from a Nov. 3-6 telephone survey of 1,012 U.S. adults ages 18 and older living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
About 47% of all participants said they want to repeal PPACA, and 42% said they want PPACA kept in place.
Back in January, when Gallup conducted a similar survey, it found that 46% of the participants said they supported repealing PPACA and 40% said they wanted to keep PPACA.
The Republicans polled for the Nov. 3-6 survey seem to hate PPACA more than the Democrats surveyed like it.
About 80% of the Republicans said they want it repealed, and only 10% said they want it kept in place.
About 64% of the Democrats said they want the law kept in place; 21% said they want it repealed.
Gallup researchers also found that many U.S. adults agree with the idea that “it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care coverage.”
The percentage who think making sure all Americans have health coverage is the government’s responsibility bounced between 58% and 64% from 2000 to 2006, soared to 69% in 2007, then fell to 47% in early 2010, as the PPACA debate was under way. The percentage stayed at 47% in early 2011 but now has increased to 50%, Newport says.
The percentage who think the United States should have a health care system “based on private health insurance” has fallen to 56%, from 61% in November 2010, and the percentage who think the country should have a “government-run health care system” has increased to 39%, from 34%.
A majority want a system based on private health insurance, but the percentage who want a government-run system has increased.