Data:
Kaiser Family Foundation; Chart: Axios Visuals
Republican voters have moved on from the
Affordable Care Act, shifting their focus and opposition instead toward
Medicare for All.
By the numbers: In our latest Kaiser Family Foundation
tracking poll, 19% of registered Republicans said opposition to Medicare for
All is their top health care issue, compared to just 3% who said the same for
opposition to the ACA.
Republicans’ top issue overall is the same as the overall public’s:
Reducing health care costs.
·
Repealing the ACA was
Republicans' top health care priority as recently as 2016.
Yes, but: This does not mean attempts to repeal the ACA are over.
·
President Trump and
many Republican leaders still support it, and the idea remains popular with
Republican voters even as it has become a lower priority for them.
Between the lines: The ACA “s popularity is at a high point — 55%
support and 37% oppose it — and many of its provisions are popular across
partisan lines.
·
The health care law
was in some ways an outlet for Republicans to channel their broader opposition
to Obama, so temperatures have cooled since he left office.
·
And the least popular
element of the ACA, the individual mandate penalty, is also gone.
·
Repealing “Obamacare”
will still generate applause lines at Republican rallies, but Republicans and
President Trump now see a bigger payoff with their base from branding
Democratic ideas as socialism and and attacking Medicare for All.
What’s next: If Sen. Bernie Sanders is the Democratic
nominee, the focus on Medicare for All and the ensuing partisan warfare on
health will intensify.
·
If President Trump
wins reelection, the current conflagration over Medicare for All will likely
give way to a renewed debate about his plans for the ACA and Medicaid.
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