--- title: Obamacare Is the Most Popular It's Been in 7 Years: Survey description: The Affordable Care Act is the most popular it has been in years as Republicans talk about repeal, according to a new study. canonical: https://time.com/4681631/affordable-care-act-obamacare-popularity-poll/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-24T13:10:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:18:04.969Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obamacare Is the Most Popular It's Been in 7 Years: Survey og:description: But people are divided on whether they want the government to repeal or replace the law og:url: https://time.com/4681631/affordable-care-act-obamacare-popularity-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf35a324e4e323d58/6988bbbdcf40a878a3c46973/obamacare-popularity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: 88567734 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obamacare Is the Most Popular It's Been in 7 Years: Survey twitter:description: But people are divided on whether they want the government to repeal or replace the law twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf35a324e4e323d58/6988bbbdcf40a878a3c46973/obamacare-popularity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obamacare Is the Most Popular It's Been in 7 Years: Survey > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d4eb99a2-fff7-4dc2-bef9-b393251faa5e&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 10 Days That Define the Obama Presidency: The Affordable Care Act [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Days That Define the Obama Presidency: The Affordable Care Act](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S8hGNLNB.m3u8) (2:35)  _Published 2017-01-12. As President Obama's two terms in office come to a close, TIME is taking a look back at the most pivotal moments of his presidency._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 24, 2017 1:10 PM UTC  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 24, 2017 1:10 PM UTC The Affordable Care Act is the most popular it has been in years as Republicans talk about [repeal](http://time.com/4633181/obamacare-repeal-what-now/?iid=sr-link6), according to a new study. A Kaiser Family Foundation [survey](http://kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-future-directions-for-the-aca-and-medicaid/) found that 48% of respondents reported a favorable view of the law, with 42% reporting an unfavorable view. The poll found the largest shift towards favorability among independents, of whom 50% now have a positive view of the law. Kaiser says this is the most popular Obamacare has been in more than 60 of their surveys since 2010. The survey found people in the U.S. are equally divided, however, on whether they want the government to repeal or replace the law. Forty-seven percent of respondents said they wanted a repeal; 48% said lawmakers should not vote to repeal it. Of those who do want repeal, a higher share said they wanted Congress to wait to repeal the law until a replacement plan is put forth. **Read Next:** [What Donald Trump’s Cabinet Pick Means for the Future of Obamacare](http://time.com/4584755/donald-trump-cabinet-tom-price-health-human-services-obamacare/?iid=sr-link4) The survey is based on a telephone sample of 1,160 adults ages 18 and older and was conducted between Feb. 13-19, 2017\. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. ## Transcript Today after almost a century of try, today after over a year of debate, today after all the votes have been tallied health insurance perform become law in the United States of America. Where the central Promises of Obama's 2008 campaign was to, in a way, complete the American social safety net, specifically for American's who were working, were not necessarily poor, but who could not afford health insurance and therefore didn't have regular medical care. This is something that most other Western nations Provide their citizens with, what the US hasn't historically. And he did this with a massive bill that did that and many other things. Since in the 1960s when medicare and medicate past which basically guaranteed healthcare for the poor and for the elderly, it has been a priority of democratic leaders going back decades To try and extend that to working people. And so when Obama came on the scene, he was really promising to complete this generation long democratic project. He was able to do it because the win in 2008 had been so grand. It had been such a big win. So for a time, we have a filibuster proof majority In the Senate. He had large majorities in the house. Most americans didn't really understand all the parts of Obamacare. It was a very complicated bill. But they had strong feelings. And those feelings tended to follow their political leanings. They were conservative Republican. They were concerned. It looked like government expansion overreach. They were liberal and fans of the president They embraced it. [ UNKNOWN ] For years, the American people have been calling on Washington, to build a bridge away from Obamacare. The story of republican opposition to Obamacare, isn't about Obamacare. It's about the way Republicans decided to oppose President Barack Obama from the very beginning. They lost the ability in some way to shape the legislation to make it more palatable. But they decided that political opposition made permanent campaign was more beneficial that [ UNKNOWN ]. And the biggest strangers, the most visible ones are the ones that are almost certain to stay but even president- elect Donald Trump wants to keep around are we a very popular visitations around children and the young girls staying at their parents house [ UNKNOWN ]. And they'd be getting rid of pre- existing conditions. That was a tremendous change and really just, a dramatic rethinking of a way insurance has been carried out in this country. 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