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As Senate Republicans work to salvage their healthcare bill, a new poll from NPR and PBS shows that the Better Care Reconciliation Act is roughly as popular as polio. Not only that—a huge plurality of people say they want American healthcare to be more comprehensive, not less.


Just 17% of respondents said they approved of the bill, which the Congressional Budget Office has said would make brutal cuts to Medicaid and reduce the number of Americans with health insurance by 22 million. 55% disapproved, and a quarter said they weren’t sure. The bill only got 35% support from Republicans.

That’s not all that surprising—no version of the Republican health bill, whether in its House or Senate forms, has managed to charm more than a hard core of Americans.


The more interesting number comes a little further down. From NPR (emphasis mine):

In fact, while many Americans want changes to the ACA, also known as Obamacare, they want it to be more far-reaching. A 46% plurality say they want to see the ACA do more, while just 7% want it to do less. Keeping the ACA and having it do less is essentially what GOP congressional plans are doing.

That number is good news for anyone pushing, say, a Medicare for all-style plan as the true solution to America’s healthcare crisis, and bad news for the Republicans.