- 8 in 10 adults (79%) say they do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the protections for people with pre-existing conditions established by the Affordable Care Act and a majority of U.S. adults (58%) also say they do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the entire 2010 law.
- Majorities of Republicans (66%), independents (81%), and 9 in 10 Democrats (91%) say they do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the pre-existing condition protections in the ACA.
- 9 in 10 Democrats (89%) and two-thirds of independent (66%) also say they do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the entire law while three-fourths of Republicans (76%) say they would like to see the entire law overturned.
Findings
- The confirmation hearings for Judge Barrett, President Trump’s appointment to fill the Supreme Court seat previously held by Justice Ginsburg, are underway this week and the future of the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions have been front-and-center. The latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds a large majority of the public – including majorities of Democrats (91%), independents (81%), and Republicans (66%), now say they do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the ACA’s pre-existing condition protections. The share who do not want to see these protections overturned has increased by double digits from one year ago for each group.
- Six in ten adults say they do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the entire ACA, up 10 percentage points from one year ago. This includes majorities of both Democrats (89%) and independents (66%), but three-fourths of Republicans still want to see the entire law overturned. Overall views of the Affordable Care Act are slightly more positive this month, with 55% of the public saying they view the law favorably. This ties its highest favorability measured in ten years of KFF polling (tied with February 2020).
- Vice President Biden has the advantage over President Trump on all health policy issues included in the survey including at least a 20 percentage point advantage on who voters think has the better approach (Biden or Trump) to make decisions about women’s reproductive health choices and services, including abortion, family planning, and contraception (57% v. 34%), determining the future of the ACA (57% v. 37%), and maintaining protections for people with pre-existing health conditions (56% v. 36%). He also holds an advantage on surprise medical bills, the coronavirus outbreak and distribution of a vaccine, and lowering health care costs for individuals.
- While both presidential candidates say they have plans to ensure pre-existing condition protections, most Democrats and independent say they do not think President Trump has a plan to maintain such protections. Slightly more than half (53%) including majorities of Democrats (90%) and independents (57%) say they “do not think President Trump has a plan to maintain protections for people with pre-existing health conditions.” On the other hand, a large majority of Republicans (85%) say President Trump “has a plan” to maintain these protections afforded by the ACA.
source: https://www.kff.org/health-reform/report/kff-health-tracking-poll-october-2020/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosvitals&stream=top
