Poll: Likely battleground voters say ObamaCare ‘here to stay’

A majority of likely voters in five battleground states believes ObamaCare is surviving the challenges against it, according to a new poll.

Most respondents in Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia believe the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is “here to stay,” Community Catalyst/Service Employees International Union (SEIU) pollsters found.

{mosads}Sixty-four percent of likely voters in those five states said that the healthcare reform law is not going anywhere. Seventy-one percent of those voters also believe Congress must work on improving ObamaCare as well.

The poll, released Thursday, also found that 55 percent prefer 2016 presidential candidates who would improve the ACA if elected.

Forty percent, however, back a contender who would repeal it.

The new poll also found that 58 percent believe all elected officials should “stop wasting time” on efforts aimed at repealing President Obama’s signature healthcare legislation.

“It’s abundantly clear that voters are tired and frustrated with repeated efforts to repeal the ACA,” said Robert Restuccia, executive director at Community Catalyst, a nonprofit group that lobbies for “quality, affordable healthcare.” “They believe the law is here to stay and that we should move forward on efforts to improve it.”

“There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done to lower healthcare costs for people,” he added. “The poll showed voters want their elected officials to turn their attention to these issues, such as high copayments and escalating drug prices.”

The poll also found strong support for addressing concerns about healthcare consumer costs.

It said that 91 percent support requiring hospitals and other healthcare providers to be more transparent on pricing.

Eighty seven percent also oppose high insurance copayments for medications used for cancer and other serious diseases.

PerryUndem Research/Communication conducted the poll of 1,005 likely voters from Sep. 15-19. The new poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percent.

—This report was updated at 11:48 a.m.