Americans are sharply divided on the issue, but a poll released late Wednesday showed that a slight plurality would rather keep the Affordable Care Act than repeal the law.
According to the latest United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, 49 percent said that Congress should keep the 2010 law widely known as Obamacare “because it’s important to reduce the number of Americans without insurance” while 44 percent said it should be repealed “because the government can’t afford it at a time of large budget deficits.”
The pollsters noted in the question that the “nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the deficit would actually increase if the law were repealed because the loss of taxes and fees tied to the program would offset any savings gained by not providing benefits to people.”
The health insurances exchanges under the Affordable Care Act are slated to open on Oct. 1.
Republican-led efforts to defund the health care law reached an apex this week with Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) 21-hour talkathon on the Senate floor.