Future Of Healthcare: Full Obamacare Repeal Opposed By Two-Thirds Of Americans

As Republicans ponder what to do about healthcare, a poll released Monday indicates two-thirds of Americans oppose complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

The McClatchy/Marist poll indicates 65 percent of Americans hope at least part of the ACA survives while 20 percent said lawmakers should leave the law as is, and 31 percent said they wanted complete repeal of President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement.

President Donald Trump and Republicans have been vowing to repeal the ACA and replace it, but GOP lawmakers have been running into opposition at town hall meetings in their districts. Trump Monday expressed surprise the process was taking so long.

“Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated,” Trump said after a meeting with governors at the White House. "I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject.”

Democrats have been warning against repeal without having a viable plan to replace it ready to be implemented, saying millions of people would lose coverage.

Trump has promised a replacement plan within a few weeks, but congressional Republicans have yet to agree on anything.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told ABC’s “This Week” Sunday the administration goal is to “make sure that people don’t lose their coverage,” but Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said on the same show there are no guarantees, especially when it comes to Medicaid expansion.

Seventy-one percent of those polled said they want any rewriting of the law to preserve the provision preventing those with pre-existing conditions from being denied coverage while 27 percent called for the provision to be eliminated. Seventy-eight percent supported allowing children to remain on their parents’ policies until age 26 while 19 percent wanted that rule scrapped.

The provision providing government subsidies to help lower-income people to help pay for premiums also was popular (71 percent) while nearly a quarter of those polled (24 percent) were opposed.

Americans were split on whether people should be required to buy health insurance (45 percent in favor, 50 percent opposed).

The poll queried 1,073 adults Feb. 15-19 and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.