Politics

Fox Poll: Majority Of Voters Wish Obamacare Had Never Been Passed

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Most Americans wish the Affordable Care Act never became law, according to a Fox News poll released late Monday.

The survey of over 1,000 voters, conducted in early June, found a consistently pessimistic outlook on the health-care law, which has failed to gain widespread support despite the Obama administration’s attempts to fix technical glitches.

Fifty-five percent of voters wish Obamacare was never passed by Congress and that the 2009 health-care system was still in place. Independents feel strongly about the law, with 58 percent of independent voters wishing it hadn’t made it through Congress. Unsurprisingly, 85 percent of Republicans regret that Obamacare became law, while just 25 percent of Democrats do.

The Kaiser Family Foundation’s health-care tracking poll has recently found that despite public opposition to Obamacare remaining high, many Americans prefer fixing it rather than repealing it and starting over with new reforms. But with a majority of voters preferring the health-care climate of 2009 to the one Obamacare’s regulations have created, it’s not clear what strategy will win out.

Fifty-eight percent of voters said they were either extremely or very interested in the November elections. Another 41 percent were somewhat or not at all interested. Forty-three percent of respondents said they were voting for or leaning towards Republican candidates, while 39 percent said they were likely to choose Democrats.

Fox also found that voters have very low expectations for the federal government’s ability to run Obamacare more efficiently than it does the Department of Veterans Affairs’ health-care system. The VA is currently caught up in a scandal over secret waiting lists and fraudulent appointment requests, which delayed over 57,000 veterans’ care and allowed at least 18 veterans to die while on unofficial waiting lists. (RELATED: VA Audit: Over 57,000 Veterans Still Waiting For First Appointment) 

Fifty-five percent of voters expect that the federal government won’t do a better job managing Obamacare than it has running the Veterans Health Administration. Just 31 percent of voters are optimistic that the government will do a better job with the health care law.

After a long list of technology and website failures, application errors and endless delays, the Obama administration has been unable to boost popular opinion about the federal government’s management of Obamacare significantly. 

Even worse than simply management, more voters think the country is worse off than it was in 2009 due to Obamacare. Forty-four percent of voters said Obamacare had made the country worse, along with another 24 percent who believed the law hasn’t made much of a difference — an impressive indifference for such a costly law. Just 29 percent believe Obamacare has improved the country.

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