Nearly half of Utahns say they are opposed to the American Health Care Act (ACHA), which is meant to replace Obamacare.
49% of Utahns say they oppose the ACHA, even though nobody really knows what’s in the bill. 36% say they support the Obamacare replacement, while 15% of Utahns said they don’t know.
It’s hard to gauge the actual level of support for the ACHA legislation because nobody knows what’s in it. Republicans will have to vote on the bill to find out what it does.
House Republicans narrowly passed their version of the ACHA in May, but that version was basically dead on arrival in the Senate, as upper chamber Republicans said they would come up with their own of the legislation.
Weirdly, after holding a victory rally with House Republicans to celebrate passing their version of the Obamacare repeal legislation, President Trump reportedly called the House bill “mean” during a private meeting with Republicans.
Senate Republicans have been working in secret to come up with their version of the ACHA, but they haven’t made the proposal public. They reportedly hope to vote on the legislation next week, but the margin of error for Senate Republicans is very slim. If three Republicans vote against the ACHA in the Senate, the bill will fail.
Overall, Utahns want to see Obamacare repealed. A January UtahPolicy.com survey found 64% of Utahns want to see the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, repealed and replaced. Just 34% want the ACA to remain unchanged. That suggests Republicans haven’t done a good job articulating the benefits of their policy proposal.
Utah’s partisan divide also informs support for the ACHA in the Beehive State. The overwhelming majority of Republicans is the primary reason the plan is not more unpopular.
Utah Republicans are in favor of the ACHA, with 61% supporting Obamacare repeal measure, but only 21% of that group say they “strongly” support the replacement.
No shocker here, but Utah Democrats are steadfastly opposed to the Republican replacement for Obamacare, with 95% replying they are against the plan, including 87% who are “strongly opposed.”
About 2/3 of independent voters in Utah say they are against the ACHA, with nearly half being “strongly opposed.”
The Dan Jones & Associates survey was conducted May 31 – June 5, 2017, among 607 registered Utah voters. It has a margin of error of 3.98%.
