Public Thinks Trumpcare Doesn't Do What's Needed

Senate Majority Leader McConnell has promised that the Senate will vote next week on whether to bring a health plan to the Senate floor for debate. But he didn't specify what that bill would be -- the latest version of Trumpcare, or the repeal now and replace later plan.

It doesn't much matter though, because neither one would accomplish what the American public would like to see. About 62% of the public now thinks it is the responsibility of the federal government to assure that all Americans have coverage for medical care (about 10 points more that said that back in March). But both Republican plans go in the opposite direction.

The bipartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has examined both the latest version of Trumpcare and the repeal and replace later idea. The CBO says the latest version of Trumpcare would take health insurance away from 15 million people in 2018, and at least 22 million by 2026. The repeal without replacing plan would take insurance away from 17 million in 2018, and at least 32 million by 2026.

It's easy to see why only 22% support the latest Trumpcare plan, and only 13% support repeal and replace later. The American people want more people covered with insurance -- not less. But the Republicans have no plan to cover more people.

So what should the Republicans do now? A huge majority say they should negotiate with the Democrats to fix Obamacare (see bottom chart).

Most of these numbers are from a recent AP-NORC Poll -- done between July 13th and 17th of a random national sample of 1,019 adults, with a margin of error of 4.1 points.

The bottom chart also uses numbers from a recent Fox News Poll -- done between July 16th and 18th of a random national sample of 1,020 registered voters, with a 3 point margin of error.