A survey by the progressive Navigator political research group found that three in five American voters view the Affordable Care Act (ACA) favorably, more people trusted the Democratic Party on health care issues, and most voters believe a Republican president would repeal Obamacare.
Navigator sampled 1,000 registered voters online from November 30 to December 4, 2023, and conducted additional interviews for the survey released on December 7. Navigator did not state the margin of error.
Respondents were asked whether they favored the ACA and Obamacare, which party they trusted more to handle health care, and whether Donald Trump and a Republican-majority Congress would repeal the ACA.
Navigator polls are led and funded by Democrat-leaning groups including the Center for American Progress, Planned Parenthood, and the polling firm Global Strategy Group to “inform allies,” elected officials, and the media.
Dodging Health Care
An October 2022 report by Horizon Government Affairs found Republican candidates tend to avoid discussing health care and have inconsistent messaging. Democrats, on the other hand, run on consistent policies, generally government-controlled options with more “for free” promises. That stable approach has led to increased trust over time.
Republicans “run away” from the topic in prime-time debates and lose the trust of voters, says Dean Clancy, senior health policy fellow at Americans for Prosperity (AFP).
“But on Capitol Hill, Republicans have been quite forward-leaning, introducing a lot of good health care bills,” said Clancy. “In fact, the House GOP leadership has been actively working on advancing ideas like expanding HSAs (health savings accounts) and direct primary care access, among others.”
As health care spending climbs and life expectancy declines, Americans need options with a better track record than the ACA and other government-controlled health care, and employers want to get out of the insurance business and fund health savings accounts (HSAs) instead, says Kansas state Sen. Beverly Gossage (R-Johnson County).
“We want every American to have the opportunity to choose the doctor and care that they want to meet their needs and the freedom to choose a private, portable, personalized health insurance plan to cover unexpected catastrophic events,” said Gossage.
Providing employers with tax deductions and easing the burden of shopping for and managing plans, HSAs give employees freedom to buy the plan they want with funds that they take with them when they leave their place of employment.
Health Care Fairness for All Act
U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) introduced a bill in May that would create a universal tax credit and individual accounts for after-tax savings for medical expenses to be invested and remain tax-free.
AFP endorsed the bill, titled the Health Care Fairness for All Act, because it includes “sensible reforms that ensure lower prices, less hassle, and more personal choice and control without new taxes,” making health care “dramatically fairer.”
“At AFP we are supporting and trying to drive up the co-sponsorship of about 30 different good congressional health reform bills, some small, some more ambitious, and to my knowledge, none of these bills threatens employer health care or takes anything away from people,” Clancy said.
According to AFP polling and focus groups, voters like and are surprised by Republican health reform ideas. “I think if Republicans speak up a little louder about what they support, they will find voters respond positively,” Clancy said.
‘Amazing, But No Surprise’
The Navigator poll is dumbfounding, says John C. Goodman, president of the Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research and co-publisher of Health Care News.
“Given the mess the Democrats have made in the individual market, this is truly amazing, but no surprise,” said Goodman. “The NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee), for the past several election cycles, has been telling all Republican candidates for Congress not to even discuss ‘health care.’”
A “repeal” sounds risky to voters because it is undefined, says Goodman.
“If we returned to pre-Obamacare government rules, the individual market coupled with risk pools would be much better for people with chronic conditions than the market today,” said Goodman. “But those risk pools no longer exist. You can’t just repeal Obamacare; you need a well-thought-out replacement.”
Goodman says he favors reform, not a repeal, with access to health insurance, doctors, and medical centers that fit individual needs. Such a plan aligns with the desires of what most Americans indicated in many polls: private coverage that is cheaper, less complicated, and managed by an employer.
Ashley Bateman (bateman.ae@googlemail.com) writes from Virginia.
It does not surprise me that Democrats support fascist laws. Obamacare is definitively fascist. It also doesn’t surprise me that Democrats don’t recognize their own fascism. Denial and Defensiveness are necessary components to protect the ego from recognizing that a person is lying to himself. And Democrats lie to themselves routinely. Obamacare needs to be excised before it becomes part of the cosmic firmament in the minds of the people. It is terrible.
John Goodman is technically correct when he says that the pre-ACA insurance plus high risk pools would give us a better system.
But will each state have to approve and fund its own high risk pool? That was a real stumbling block before the ACA.
Comprehensive high risk pools will cost at least $40 billion a year. Most Republican proposals in this area have been laughably inadequate.