The Public's Attitude About Obamacare Is Changing

(This cartoon image is by Christopher Weyant in The Hill.)

The Republicans have desperately been trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) since its inception. They know that if it is accepted by the American public, it would give Democrats an edge in future elections for having the courage and foresight to fix (at least somewhat) our broken health care system -- and it would give President Obama a major achievement (something the GOP simply cannot abide).

They have tried to repeal it numerous times, tried to defund it, begged the public not to participate in it, and some of them have even encouraged the hacking of the health care exchange website. None of those efforts has been successful. But they have had some success in their efforts to spread propaganda and lies about the program -- making a majority of Americans fear the program and doubt it will work.

They had hoped to ride this doubt and fear into the 2014 election, and use it to hang on to their power in Congress. Unfortunately for them, their worst nightmare is now starting to come true. More and more people are signing up for Obamacare, and as they do, they are beginning to realize that they now have access to cheaper and better insurance (and if needed, they can get help to pay for that insurance). And because of that, the public's attitude about Obamacare is changing.

The charts below were made with information in a recent Rasmussen Poll. The survey was done on January 17th and 18th of 1,000 likely voters nationwide, and has a margin of error of 3 points. The poll verifies this changing attitude about Obamacare.

The number of people signing up for health insurance coverage has been increasing every month -- going from 4% in November to 8% in December, and currently is at 12%. That may not sound like much but remember, the majority of Americans were already covered through their work, a privately purchased policy, Medicare, or Medicaid. That 12% represents a pretty good hunk of those who were uninsured. And as these people get that insurance, it is changing minds -- both among those who have now purchased insurance, and their friends and neighbors who are happy they are now covered.

Note that in December, just a month ago, about 58% of the public said they opposed the health insurance mandate (while only 33% supported it). Now those figures have evened out -- with 42% supporting it and 43% opposing it. I expect these numbers will continue to change as more people get signed up and people get used to the changes.

This is important because the individual mandate is the only part of Obamacare reform that the public really didn't like. They supported the other reforms (like no more pre-existing conditions, allowing young people to stay on their parents' policy to age 26, removing the cap on what insurance companies will pay for medical care, making insurance companies pay at least 80% of premiums for medical care, and the coverage of more poor people through the expansion of Medicaid).

It also means the Republicans are losing what they had hoped would be a good campaign issue for them in the November 2014 election. As people come to accept Obamacare, they are going to be less likely to vote for someone who wants to destroy it.

I am glad this change is happening, because Obamacare is an improvement over the old system. But it did not solve all the problems of our broken health care system. What is really needed is a government-run single-payer health insurance system that will cover all Americans (something like Medicare for all). And fortunately, a growing number of Americans are starting to realize that. Currently more than a third of the public (about 37%) would like to see that happen.