An entire 46 percent of voters say they approve of the Republican health-care proposal, a Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday has found. "Given the wave of criticism from both parties following the rollout of the bill, this is a relatively strong starting point for GOP leaders and the White House," said Morning Consult's co-founder Kyle Dropp. "However, it will be important to track how public opinion stands up as more information is released in the coming weeks."
More than 35 percent of people said they disapprove of the Affordable Care Act replacement. When asked if the Republican bill will make the health-care system better or worse, 34 percent of voters said better and 33 percent said worse.
Ultimately, when asked to evaluate specific provisions in the bill, the existing Affordable Care Act provisions were more popular than the GOP's new introductions, such as requiring adults to pay a 30 percent penalty if their coverage lapses. On the other hand, 71 percent of voters wanted the ObamaCare replacement to prohibit insurers from denying coverage to patients with pre-existing conditions, and 68 percent of voters thought the bill should allow people under 26 to stay on their parents' plans. Overall, 47 percent of people approve of ObamaCare and 47 percent disapprove.
The Politico/Morning Consult poll surveyed 1,983 registered voters between March 9 and 13, entirely before the release of the evaluation of the bill by the Congressional Budget Office. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent. Read the full results of the poll at Politico here.