President-elect Trump has vowed to make health care great again, but Americans are almost evenly divided over whether he can deliver on that promise.
Just over half of those surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation said they were “not too confident” or “not at all confident” that Americans will get better health care at a lower cost under a Trump administration, according to a new tracking poll released Friday by the non-partisan research group.
Only 19% said they were very confident the incoming president would fulfill his promise, while 29% said they were somewhat confident.
Trump and Congressional Republicans are taking their first steps to repeal Obamacare, which they have long blasted as being too expensive. But they have yet to work out the details of a replacement plan.
Overall, health care comes in third among the top issues the public wants the next administration to address. The economy and jobs ranks first, with immigration coming next.
When it comes to health care, Americans want Trump and Congress to focus on lowering costs in 2017. Two-thirds of those polled said reducing the amount people have to pay for health care should be a top priority. Another 60% said the President-elect and lawmakers should tackle the high cost of prescription drugs.
At the same time, only 35% listed having the federal government pare back its health care spending as the #1 priority.
As for Obamacare, 37% named its repeal as the most important health care issue for Republicans.
Americans, however, are also divided over whether to jettison President Obama’s signature health reform law. Some 47% said it should not be repealed, while 49% think it should.
Even those who support repeal differ on the timing. Some 28% said lawmakers should dismantle the law once they have a replacement plan in place, while another 20% said Obamacare should be repealed immediately and Congress can work out a replacement later. (The numbers don’t quite add up to 49% due to rounding.)
The majority of Americans feel that the quality of their health care and their ability to get and keep health insurance will not change if Obamacare is repealed.
But when it comes to the cost of health care, 27% said repealing the law would make things better, while 28% felt they would have to pay more. Some 43% said it wouldn’t make much difference.
