WASHINGTON —
It still divides us, but most Americans think President Barack Obama’s health care law is here to stay.
More than 7 in 10 say the law will fully go into effect with some changes, ranging from minor to major alterations, a new Associated Press-GfK poll finds.
Only 12 percent expect the Affordable Care Act — “Obamacare” to dismissive opponents — to be repealed completely.
The law — covering 30 million uninsured, requiring virtually every legal U.S. resident to carry health insurance and forbidding insurers from turning away the sick — remains as contentious as the day it passed more than two years ago. There’s still more than another year before its major provisions go into effect on Jan. 1, 2014.
Although the overhaul survived a Supreme Court challenge in June, the November election appears likely to settle its fate. Republican Mitt Romney vows to begin repealing it on Day One while Obama pledges to carry it out faithfully.
But the poll found that Americans are converging on the idea that the overhaul will be part of their lives, although probably not down to its last comma. They don’t totally buy what either candidate is saying.
“People are sort of averaging out the candidates’ positions,” said Harvard School of Public Health professor Robert Blendon, who tracks polling on health care issues.
Forty-one percent said they expect the law to be fully implemented with minor changes, while 31 percent said they expect to see it take effect with major changes. Only 11 percent said they think it will be implemented as passed.
Americans also prefer that states have a strong say in carrying out the overhaul.
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Most Americans see health care law here to stay
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Mental illness in youth is a common struggle
