The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has never enjoyed widespread support among the U.S. electorate, but its millions of detractors are unsure of what the alternative to the law should be.
A new survey out Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that 44 percent of Americans regard PPACA favorable, compared to 41 percent who view it unfavorably. This finding is in line with other polls that have shown that support for the law has risen and stabilized in the nearly two years since it was implemented.
But what do those who don't like the PPACA want to happen to it?
Recommended For You
It's a blurry picture. Twenty-eight percent want the law fully repealed. Another 11 percent want it to be "scaled back." Another 28 percent of respondents, undoubtedly including some of the law's supporters, want the law to be expanded.
Those who want the law completely scrapped are almost evenly split on whether the GOP should replace it with an alternative or not. Those who support an alternative represent 12 percent of the overall public, while those who don't amount to 11 percent.
Other health care issues the Kaiser poll examined revealed greater consensus. The vast majority of Americans believe that drug costs are unreasonable (72 percent) and that pharmaceutical corporations put profits ahead of people (74 percent).
Still, the poll found, most people who use prescription drugs say they are easy to afford (74 percent), compared to 24 percent who say they have a hard time paying for their medicine. Americans also exhibit a certain degree of appreciation for the companies they believe are rapacious; 62 percent believe drug innovations have made lives better over the past 20 years.
Those who favored repealing PPACA were asked whether the fact that 19 million Americans would become uninsured as a result of repeal would convince them to change their position. Only 3 percent said it would.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
