A new Gallup poll shows that 54 percent of Americans think it is not the federal government’s responsibility to ensure all citizens have health care coverage. This is the first time Gallup trends have shown a majority of Americans holding this opinion since 2000, according to Gallup’s Jeffrey Jones.
From 2000 until around the time President Barack Obama was elected, polls showed an easy majority of Americans supported government-ensured health care. In most years during that time frame, more than 60 percent of Americans thought the government should make sure everyone had health care.
“The shift away from the view that the government should ensure healthcare coverage for all began shortly after President Barack Obama’s election and has continued the past several years during the discussions and ultimate passage of the Affordable Care Act in March 2010,” Jones wrote, adding that 48 percent of Americans support Obamacare while 45 percent oppose it.
“Republicans, including Republican-leaning independents, are mostly responsible for the drop since 2007 in Americans’ support for government ensuring universal health coverage,” Jones continued. “In 2007, 38 percent of Republicans thought the government should do so; now, 12 percent do. Among Democrats and Democratic leaners there has been a much smaller drop, from 81 percent saying the government should make sure all Americans are covered in 2007 to 71 percent now.”
The results are based on Gallup’s annual Health and Healthcare poll, which was conducted from Nov. 15 through Nov. 18 this year.
The White House and Obama administration remain set on implementing Obamacare and some House Republicans have said they’re giving up the fight until a Republican is elected president in the future.