The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — Republicans and backers of President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again platform support the party’s “big, beautiful bill” as passed by the U.S. House, though Americans overall view the legislation unfavorably, according to a poll released Tuesday by the nonpartisan health research organization KFF.
The survey shows that nearly two-thirds of those polled, or 64%, don’t support the tax policy changes and spending cuts Republicans have included in the sweeping House version of the bill that the Senate plans to take up this month.
When broken down by political affiliation, just 13% of Democrats and 27% of independents view the legislation favorably. Those numbers are in sharp contrast to Republicans, with 61% supporting the bill and 72% of those who identify as MAGA supporters.
But those views fluctuated when the people surveyed were asked specific questions about certain elements of the package and the real-world impacts of the legislation:
- The overall percentage of those surveyed with an unfavorable view of the bill increased from 64% to 67% when they were told it would lower federal spending on Medicaid by more than $700 billion, an estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
- Dislike of the legislation rose to 74% when those polled were told policy changes would lead to 10 million people losing their health insurance coverage, another estimate from the CBO analysis.
- Opposition rose to 79% when people were told the legislation would reduce funding for local hospitals.
“The public hasn’t had much time to digest what’s in the big, beautiful, but almost incomprehensible bill as it races through Congress, and many don’t have a lot of information about it,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman wrote in a statement. “Our poll shows that views toward the bill and its health-care provisions can shift when presented with more information and arguments about its effects, even among MAGA supporters.”
Senators wrestling with what to do
The House voted mostly along party lines to approve its 11-bill package in late May, sending the legislation to the Senate.
GOP senators have spent weeks internally debating which parts of the House legislation to keep, which to change and which to remove, while also conducting closed-door meetings with the parliamentarian to determine which parts of the bill comply with the rules for the complex reconciliation process.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., plans to bring his chamber’s version of the package to the floor next week, though that timeline could slip. Before the Senate can approve the rewritten bill, lawmakers will spend hours voting on dozens of amendments during what’s known as a vote-a-rama.
Significant bipartisan support for Medicaid
The KFF poll released Tuesday shows that 83% of Americans support Medicaid, slated for an overhaul and spending reductions by GOP lawmakers.
That support remains high across political parties, with 93% of Democrats, 83% of independents and 74% of Republicans holding a favorable opinion of the state-federal health program for lower-income people and some with disabilities.
Those surveyed appeared supportive of a provision in the House bill that would require some people on Medicaid to work, participate in community service, or attend an educational program at least 80 hours a month.
The change is supported by about two-thirds of those surveyed, though the numbers shift depending on how the question is asked.
For example, when told that most adults on Medicaid already work and that not being able to complete the paperwork associated with the new requirement could cause some to lose coverage, 64% of those polled opposed the new requirement.
Planned Parenthood
There was also broad opposition, 67% overall, to language in the House bill that would block any Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood for routine health care. There is a long-standing prohibition on federal funding from going toward abortion with exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the pregnant patient.
Opposition to the Planned Parenthood provision increased to 80% when those polled were told that no federal payments to Planned Parenthood go directly toward abortion and that ending all Medicaid payments to the organization would make it more challenging for lower-income women to access birth control, cancer screenings and STD testing.
Republicans are more supportive of that change, with 54% backing the policy and 46% opposing the new block on Medicaid patients going to Planned Parenthood. But 78% of independent women and 51% of Republican women oppose the change.
Food assistance program
Those surveyed also had concerns about how changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, would impact lower-income people’s ability to afford food, with 70% saying they were either very or somewhat concerned.
Democrats held the highest level of concern at 92%, followed by independents at 74% and Republicans at 47%.
Overall, Republicans hold the highest share of people polled who believe the dozens of GOP policy changes in the “big, beautiful bill” will help them or their family.
A total of 32% of Republicans surveyed believe the legislation will benefit them, while 47% said it will not make much of a difference and 21% said it will hurt them or their family.
Thirteen percent of independents expect the legislation will help them, while 39% said it likely won’t make a difference and 47% expect it will harm them or their family.
Of Democrats polled, just 6% said they expect the GOP mega-bill to help them, while 26% said it wouldn’t matter much and 66% expected it to hurt them or their family.
When asked whether the bill would help, not make much of a difference, or hurt certain groups of people, the largest percentage of those polled expect it to help wealthy people.
Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said they expect wealthy people will benefit from the bill, 21% believe it will help people with lower incomes and 20% said they think middle-class families will benefit.
Seventeen percent think it will help immigrants, 14% expect it to help people who buy their own health insurance, 13% believe it will help people on Medicaid, 13% think it will help people on SNAP and 8% expect it will benefit undocumented immigrants.
KFF conducted the poll June 4 – 8, both online and by telephone, among a nationally representative sample of 1,321 U.S. adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the full sample size.
This post was originally authored and published by Jennifer Shutt from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
