Poll: Americans Wants to Go Back to Previous Health Care System, Disagree With Obama on Size and Power of Government

At a recent event, President Barack Obama said the health care
law is here to stay and vowed, “We aren’t going back.” But 55
percent of Americans say they’d prefer to go back to the health
care system that was in place before the Affordable Care Act, while
34 percent prefer the current health care system. 

The latest Reason-Rupe national telephone poll finds the
Affordable Care Act’s troubled launch has made 47 percent of
Americans less confident in government’s ability to solve problems.
Forty-one percent say the troubles have made no difference and 11
percent say the health care law’s launch has given them more
confidence in the government.

“This is the most transparent administration in history,”
President Obama has declared. However, 57 percent of Americans tell
Reason-Rupe that the Obama administration is not the most
transparent administration in history, while 37 percent agree with
the president’s statement.

A majority of Americans, 52 percent, say they disagree with
President Obama’s views about the proper size and power of
government, while 38 percent agree with the president.

Fifty-four percent of those surveyed feel government is
generally a “burdensome part of society that impedes the ability of
people to improve their lives,” while 41 percent feel “government
is primarily a source of good and helps people improve their
lives.”

Nearly three out of four Americans, 73 percent, believe members
of Congress do not understand health care or how health care laws
impact Americans. Just 25 percent think members of Congress
understand the consequences of the health care laws they pass.

Seventy percent of Americans oppose making young people pay more
for health care to help fund health care for older or less healthy
Americans. Six in 10 oppose requiring younger, healthier people to
help fund insurance for those with pre-existing conditions. And 57
percent believe lower cost health care plans that provide fewer
benefits than required by the Affordable Care Act should be
allowed.  

Of the 44 percent of respondents who say that they liked the
Affordable Care Act when it passed, 41 percent of them like it less
now.   Of the 52 percent who disliked the law when it was
passed, 14 percent like it more now.

When it comes to health care overall, 57 percent of Americans
disapprove of the job President Obama is doing, while 38 percent
approve. Overall, however, 47 percent say they approve of the job
President Obama is doing — four points better than the September
Reason-Rupe poll. One in five Americans, 20 percent, approve of the
job Congress is doing, down slightly from September.

Full Poll 

The full poll is online here and
additional Reason-Rupe poll resources are available here.
This is the latest in a series of Reason-Rupe public opinion
surveys dedicated to exploring what Americans really think about
government and major issues.  This Reason Foundation project
is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Arthur N.
Rupe Foundation.

The Reason-Rupe poll conducted live interviews with 1,011 adults
on mobile (506) and landline (505) phones from December 4-8, 2013.
The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.7 percent. Princeton
Survey Research Associates International executed the nationwide
Reason-Rupe survey.