A new poll published Friday by the Associated Press finds that support for Obamacare continues to drop even as most Americans seem resigned to the fact that repeal is unlikely.
Just 26 percent of respondents in the latest poll said they supported the law, down slightly from 27 percent in January. Still, this is the lowest level of support for the law since it was passed in 2010. However, the drop in support is not the result of increased opposition. In fact, opposition to the law was at 50 percent in 2010 after the law was passed but now has dropped to 43 percent.
This decrease in both support and opposition might be explained by a finding in a Kaiser Health Tracking poll published earlier this week. Kaiser found that most Americans (58% of Democrats and 47% of Republicans) are simply tired of hearing about the law.
The AP Poll found that the individual mandate remains the least popular part of the law, with 41 percent saying it should be repealed and just 19 percent saying it should continue. That’s in contrast to some other elements of the law, such as the ability for people to remain on their parents insurance until age age twenty-six. That element of the law is favored by 51 percent of respondents.
The individual mandate is considered key to making the law work as expected. Without it, young and health individuals may not feel motivated to add an additional monthly expense to their budget, leaving the program with a risk pool of mostly older and presumably sicker people. This would lead to higher prices in subsequent years which might further discourage young people from signing up.
Despite the poor showing for the law as a whole, most Americans think it will remain in place, albeit with some changes. In all, 72 percent feel the law will continue to be implemented, 42 percent foresee minor changes to the law and 30 percent expect major changes.