Four years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Americans are still of two minds about the health care reform law. When pollsters break Obamacare apart, nearly all of the individual pieces are well regarded. But when they ask about Obamacare as a single, hulking policy, it’s derided. Americans trust the parts, but not the whole. …
But that puzzle can’t be explained by “death panels” or either party’s messaging on the issue. It also seems unlikely that a substantial share of the opposition to Obamacare comes from those who wanted to see more sweeping health care reforms.
Instead, the public’s disapproval of Obamacare considered as a whole points to Americans’ broader relationship with the government, and our unwillingness to trust that it can accomplish what it sets out to do. CONT.
Dan Hopkins (Georgetown), FiveThirtyEight
Recent polls: Affordable Care Act