Polls: Majority disapprove of Senate health care bill

A majority of the public disapproves of the Republican Senate health care bill that seeks to repeal and replace Obamacare, according to a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Wednesday.

The survey found that 55 percent of people said they disapprove of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), while 17 percent said that they approve of the measure. About a quarter, meanwhile, said they hadn't heard enough about the plan to have an opinion on it.

Only 35 percent of Republicans polled said that they support the bill, according to the Wednesday survey, and 21 percent of Republicans said that they oppose it. More than two-thirds of independents said they are also against the legislation.

Despite the opposition to the bill, only 17 percent of people said they want Obamacare to stay and remain unchanged. Forty-six percent said they want it to be changed so it does more and 7 percent said they want it changed so it does less. A quarter of people said they want a full repeal of the 2010 health care law.

If Republicans are unsuccessful in their efforts to repeal the law, 37 percent said they would blame the GOP majority and 23 percent said they'd blame Democrats, who are in the minority. Fifteen percent said they'd blame President Trump.

Other new polls showed similar disapproval for the Senate's health care proposal. 

A Quinnipiac University poll found only 16 percent approved of the Senate health care plan, compared with 58 percent who disapproved. Even Republicans were not overwhelmingly in favor of the legislation, approving it 37 percent to 23 percent, with all other idealogical groups strongly opposing the legislation. 

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released Thursday found just 12 percent approved of the proposal, while 53 percent said Congress should stick to Obamacare or work to fix its flaws while keeping the law's overall framework in place. 

Senators were expected to vote on the bill this week, before their week-long July 4 recess, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, suddenly decided Tuesday to delay the vote until they return. Leadership was struggling to secure enough support to advance the bill to a final vote.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its score of the Senate bill Monday, which projected that 22 million more people would be left without health insurance over the next decade than under current law. 

The poll surveyed 1,205 adults between June 21 and 25 with a 2.8 percentage point margin of error.