Repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act may have been one of the key messages that got Donald Trump elected, but support for the law has never been stronger.
A new, post-inauguration poll of voters by Public Policy Polling finds that Obamacare has reached record levels of popularity, with 45 percent of voters supporting it and 41 percent opposing it.
Related: Repeal and Replace Obamacare in 200 Days? Good Luck With That
The majority of voters would prefer that Congress keep the ACA in place and make new regulations to fix the parts that aren’t working. Just 30 percent of voters agree that repealing the plan entirely is the best plan for addressing health care.
A separate poll of primary care physicians published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine found even less support for a repeal. That poll found that just 15 percent of primary care physicians favor a full repeal of the law, although nearly three-quarters believe that Congress should make some changes.
After his inauguration last Friday, Trump took the first steps toward fulfilling his campaign promise to repeal and replace the law by signing an executive order instructing federal agencies to use any method allowed by law to dismantle key elements of the Affordable Care Act.
While the exact implications of the order remain unclear, congressional Republicans are scrambling to do the heavy lifting of coming up with a suitable plan to replace the law. House Speaker Paul Ryan is aiming to get that done within the first 200 days of the administration, but Republicans have yet to agree on even the broad strokes of such a plan.
