Nearly 60 percent of likely voters across the nation want the Affordable Care Act to remain in place, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Friday.
The poll comes as the health care law takes a front and center role in November’s midterm elections, with Democrats going on the offensive with a message that Republican victories would put voters’ health care in jeopardy.
{mosads}Increasing focus on the ACA’s protection for those with pre-existing conditions, which 80 percent of Democratic and Republican voters support, has increased the pressure on Republican candidates, many of whom have had to soften their stance on the health care plan after vowing to “repeal and replace” it for years.
Democrats are able to seize on the issue particularly in the House, with a large number of vulnerable Republican incumbents having cast at least one vote to repeal ObamaCare and its protections for pre-existing conditions, according to the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
The issue has also seeped into tight Senate races, with Republican candidates such as Josh Hawley in Missouri and Rick Scott in Florida vowing to protect pre-existing conditions despite the fact that their states are signed onto a lawsuit to repeal the ACA.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is in a tighter-than-expected reelection campaign, said he would fight to protect coverage for those with pre-existing conditions despite having previously been willing to shut down the government to try to repeal ObamaCare.
The debate surrounding health care has become so prominent that it is airing in a majority of Democrats’ federal election ads. From Sept. 18 to Oct. 15, 54.5 percent of those ads mentioned health care, according to the Wesleyan Media Project.
While FiveThirtyEight predicts the Democrats have about an 84 percent chance of taking control of the House, an unfavorable Senate map that has the Democrats defending 10 seats in states President Trump won in 2016 makes winning a majority in the Upper Chamber incredibly difficult for the left.
Frustration with the health care system persists, however. About 52 percent of likely voters told Reuters/Ipsos they view the U.S. health care system as “poor” or “terrible.”
Reuters/Ipsos surveyed 925 likely voters from Oct. 12-17 and has a credibility interval of plus or minus four percentage points.