Poll: Obamacare Popularity Hits New High

As the Affordable Care Act’s first open enrollment period comes to a close, support for the law has risen to an all-time high, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Monday.

The poll finds that 49 percent of Americans now support the health care reform law, while 48 percent oppose it. That represents a major rebound from Obamacare’s November nadir — Americans opposed the law 57 to 40 percent in that survey from four months ago — and marks the first time that Obamacare’s proponents have outnumbered its detractors in an ABC News/Washington Post poll.

The law’s improved public standing has mainly been driven by Democrats, who are embracing it. 76 percent of Democrats now support Obamacare, up from 65 percent two months ago.

Support among Republicans and Independents has remained relatively stable and low.

Despite the rising support for the law itself, Americans remain skeptical of President Obama’s handling of its rollout. Just 44 percent approve of the president’s performance implementing the law, while 54 percent disappove. That number, while low, does represent a 6-point improvement from January and an 11-point bounce from November.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll is the second recent survey to record the law’s popularity rising. A recent Kaiser Foundation poll found that a 59 percent majority wants to keep the law in place, while just 29 percent want to repeal it. But other polls, such as the most recent AP-GfK survey, find that the public remains skeptical.

No matter how voters actually feel about the law, Republicans in Congress seem unlikely to change their position on it any time soon. On Monday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) commemorated Obamacare’s enrollment deadline wtih a promise to make a 53rd attempt to repeal it.

AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan