Dive Brief:
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The divide between Americans who view the Affordable Care Act favorably and those who view it unfavorably has shrunk to the lowest since 2012, before the law was rolled out.
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The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, which has tracked ACA feedback since it was it was signed in 2010, concludes that 43% of respondents have an unfavorable opinion of the law while 41% have a favorable view.
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Although there are still more Americans against the law than for it, the gap has been closing. In July 2014 the gap was significantly greater, with 53% against the ACA and 37% for it.
Dive Insight:
The poll results suggest the ACA is gaining acceptance with the passage of time and improvements in implementation. Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, points out that the closing of the gap is taking place following reductions in technological issues and in bitter political debates.
The poll goes on to probe respondents for additional opinions, such as whether they want to see Congress repeal or scale back the ACA. For that, 40% said they would support repealing or scaling back the law, while 46% said they would rather see that Congress move forward with the ACA or expand it.
As Altman notes, however, the majority of Republicans are still against the law and the majority of Democrats are for it. “Opinion on the A.C.A. is still stuck in an intractable partisan divide,” he told The New York Times.