Most Americans support the Affordable Care Act and say the federal government should be responsible for ensuring that all Americans have health care coverage, according to a new Gallup survey.
Gallup on Monday released the findings of its poll, which found that 62 percent of adults “say it is the federal government’s responsibility to ensure all Americans have healthcare coverage.” That’s the largest percentage in any year since 2006, when 69 percent of the poll’s respondents agreed with that sentiment.
About 54 percent of U.S. adults approve of the Affordable Care Act, close to the record-high percentage of 55 percent from April 2017, when Donald Trump and the GOP were trying to repeal the law. Support for the bill, passed during President Obama’s first term, is divided along partisan lines: 94 percent of Democrats approve of the ACA, while only 19 percent of Republicans do. Both are record highs.
The survey, which was conducted from November 6 to 20, following the presidential election, reveals Americans are closely divided on whether they preferred a private insurance–based health care system or one that is government-run. About 49 percent prefer the former with 46 percent preferring the latter. The last time the two options polled this closely together was 2017, when 48 percent of respondents preferred private insurance versus 47 percent for a government-run system.
And politically speaking, support for government-run health care and private insurance are also polarized on party lines, with 71 percent of Democrats preferring a government-run system versus 20 percent supporting a private system. Republicans overwhelmingly favor private insurance, with 76 percent of them supporting it as opposed to 21 percent supporting a government-run system.
At a time when Americans across party lines are dissatisfied with the country’s health care system and feel powerless to do anything about it, these polling results are significant. The incoming Trump administration has already suggested that it would do away with the ACA’s key reform of prohibiting insurance coverage denial based on preexisting conditions, and the GOP has been trying to “repeal and replace” the ACA since it was passed.
The next four years will be pivotal for American health care, with Republicans almost certain to use their narrow congressional majority to take aim at the ACA again and institute their own “reforms,” which are almost certain to leave Americans worse off. Every politician, Republican or Democrat, should look at this poll and realize that the public wants better health care coverage, and try to do something positive about it.
Luigi Mangione, the man apprehended Monday on suspicion of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was found with a manifesto on his person. Two lines in the manifesto read, “These parasites had it coming” and “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done,” according to CNN’s John Miller.
Mangione, 26, from Baltimore County, Maryland, was taken into custody at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s on Monday. Mangione was found with a gun similar to the one used in Thompson’s killing, several fake IDs, and the aforementioned manifesto.
More details from the manifesto have yet to be released, but the two lines may confirm what many suspected were the shooter’s personal vendetta against the health care company.
His high school’s valedictorian, Mangione went on to study at University of Pennsylvania, where he acquired a master of science in engineering and a bachelor of science in engineering degree in computer science.
Thompson was killed Wednesday morning, and police were looking for Mangione for five days. His social media profiles muddy the waters in regard to his personal politics and motive. His X account is full of posts about the future of AI, tech, altruism, and complaints about wokeism, and his header contains an image of the injury that may have possibly radicalized him. His Goodreads contains more left-leaning selections like The Lorax and Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry. He also reviewed the Unabomber’s book, writing that “when all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive. You may not like his methods, but to see things from his perspective, it’s not terrorism, it’s war and revolution.”
Mangione has yet to be charged.
Donald Trump isn’t just planning to pardon his supporters who ransacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6—he’s also asking them to shape his administration.
The president-elect has apparently included one January 6 rioter—Pete Marocco—in his transition team, Politico reported Monday. Marocco, a conservative activist, does come with extensive Trumpworld experience: He wore several hats during Trump’s last administration and had stints at the Defense, State, and Commerce departments, as well as USAID. His new role on Trump’s transition team focuses on national security personnel matters, according to three unidentified sources who spoke with the........