Only 26 Percent of Americans Support Full Repeal of Obamacare, Poll Finds

Americans continue to be divided along partisan lines over Obamacare, with an overwhelming percentage of Democrats favoring it and an equal share of Republicans having unfavorable views, according to a newly released Kaiser Family Foundation poll.

But when it comes to an actual gutting of Obamacare, there doesn't appear to be a lot of support.

One-fourth, or 26 percent, of Americans favor a full repeal of the health care law, while 17 percent say scale it back, according to the Kaiser poll. On the other hand, 30 percent favor expanding the law and another 19 percent want lawmakers to move forward with the law as it is.

The poll was conducted one week after the 2016 presidential election. In its aftermath, President-elect Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers have signaled their intention to follow through on their campaign promise to repeal President Obama's landmark health care legislation. Republican lawmakers have voted to repeal Obamacare dozens of times.

But the Kaiser survey indicates that there's been a decline in the percentage of Republicans who want to see the law repealed just since October. In that month, 69 percent of GOPers said they favored repealing the entire law. A month later, once it was clear that the GOP would be in control of the health care debate, just 52 percent of Republicans said the law should be repealed.

Similarly, in October, just 11 percent of Republicans said they wanted the law scaled back but not eliminated. In November, that percentage increased to 24 percent.

The poll also indicates that among those who want to see Obamacare repealed, only a third don't want a replacement. Two-thirds want to see it replaced by a Republican alternative. There are reports that the GOP may seek an immediate repeal of the law and wait years before settling on a replacement.

Overall, the survey finds that some key provisions of Obamacare are very popular among Democrats and Republicans. For example, 85 percent favor keeping young adults on their parents' insurance plan until age 26. Sixty-nine percent like the prohibitions on insurance companies denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

The most unpopular feature of Obamacare? Only 35 percent favor the individual mandate requiring all people to sign up for health insurance or pay a fine.

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit NPR.org.