Only 17% of Americans approve of the Republican Senate health care bill, with 55% of national adults saying they outright disapprove of it, according to a new poll out Wednesday.
The results from the NPR/ PBS Newshour/Marist survey show that across the board, Americans are unhappy with how the repeal of Obamacare is being handled. The poll was in the field as the details of the GOP bill became public, with interviews conducted Wednesday through Sunday. The bill’s text became public on Thursday.
Additionally, President Donald Trump’s approval ratings remain low, with independents in particular losing faith in the President’s ability to turn around the job market.
Overall, Americans want something to be done to the current state of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, with only 17% wanting the 2010 health care bill to be left completely intact. A quarter of those polled want the bill to be repealed completely, and the figure jumps up to more than half among Republican respondents.
But while the Republican-controlled Senate’s proposed plan, known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act, would take the structure of the ACA by having it do less, almost half of respondents to the poll say they want to instead see more done under the ACA. Just 7% of those polled say they want the health care bill to do less.
And the public plans to point fingers if a bill isn’t passed. If Congress doesn’t go through with a repeal of the ACA, 37% of Americans said they would blame congressional Republicans, 23% would blame Democrats and 15% would blame Trump.
Meanwhile, Trump’s approval ratings remain low.
Just 37% of Americans approve of the job the President is doing since he took office, with 51% disapproving, according to the same poll.
The most pronounced change in the polling comes from independent voters. Just 31% of independents said Trump’s decisions as President have strengthened the US economy, down from 44% three months ago.
Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, told NPR that “on issues like the direction of the country and the economy, they’ve really soured on him. It’s hard for someone like him to make a second impression. Independents have come to the conclusion that what you see is what you get.”
When asked about Trump’s leadership skills, independents also believed Obama was more effective, 65% to Trump’s 29%. Americans in general similarly agreed, though by slightly narrower difference, 58% to 34%.
However, Trump continues to maintain stability in his core base of supporters. Despite mounting investigations into the President’s potential ties to Russia, 80% of Republicans approve of the job he’s doing. He also maintains a 89% approval rating of those who voted for him in the last election.
There remain warning signs for the President, however. In the wake of the decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord and consistent military strikes against ISIS in Syria, more than half of respondents, 58%, think Trump has weakened the US’s position abroad. Additionally, Americans are suspicious of their president — more than six in 10 say they believe Trump has done something illegal or unethical in his financial dealings. Only 31% say they believe he’s done nothing wrong in that regard.
This poll surveyed 1,205 adults by telephone between June 21 and 25. There is a ± 2.8 percentage points margin of error. A sub-sample of 995 registered voters were also surveyed, with a ± 3.1 percentage points margin of error.
