Both President Obama and his signature health law have hit new lows after a rocky past month for the White House, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll released Tuesday.
Opposition to the Affordable Care Act hit a new high in the Post/ABC survey, with 57% saying they oppose the law — including 46% who say they’re strongly against it. A month ago, voters said they were split on approval.
That’s along the same trajectory as the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey earlier this month that showed 49% believed the ACA was a bad idea — the highest number in the NBC survey ever.
The president’s own public perception has also slid in the Post/ABC poll as many Americans have seen their insurance policies cancelled despite repeated assurances that “If you like your plan, you can keep it.” While the administration tried to mitigate this with a new rule change last week, it doesn’t look to be enough — 63% say they disapprove of Obama’s handling of the law’s implementation, up 10 points from last month’s poll.
Fifty-five percent also said they disapprove of how Obama is handling his job as president. Fifty-seven percent say they disapprove of how he’s handling the economy, and 70% say they think the country is on the wrong track. Fifty-three percent say the president is not a strong leader, and 56% say he’s not a good manager.
Fifty-seven percent said they support making changes to the health care law — but there’s a critical divide. While 58% say they support requiring companies with over 50 workers to provide insurance or pay a fine, 65% say they oppose requiring individuals to have health insurance or pay a fine.
Jessica Taylor