A new survey has found that a majority of Republicans and Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters back the extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits at the center of the government shutdown fight.
The poll, released Friday and conducted by the nonpartisan health policy research organization KFF, indicated that 59 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of supporters of the MAGA movement favor extending the tax credits.
A majority of Democrats and independents also supported the extension of the ACA subsidies.
Among the general public, 78 percent of respondents said they’d like to see the tax credits extended — more than three times the share that said the opposite.
The survey’s findings also indicated that most of the public is unaware the enhanced ACA tax credits may expire next year. About 6 in 10 respondents said they have heard “little” or “nothing at all” about the expiring subsidies.
“There is a hot debate in Washington about the looming ACA premium hikes, but our poll shows that most people in the marketplaces don’t know about them yet and are in for a shock when they learn about them in November,” Drew Altman, CEO and president of KFF, said in a statement.
The fight over the extension of the enhanced tax credits played a key role in Democrats’ refusal to pass a stopgap bill that would keep the government funded until Nov. 21.
The ACA tax credits help 22 million Americans afford health care by lowering health insurance costs when they purchase policies through the ACA’s marketplace.
The credits are set to expire by Jan. 1 if Congress doesn’t provide further funding for them. According to the poll, 7 in 10 respondents who purchase their own health insurance said they would not be able to afford health coverage if their premiums doubled “without significantly disrupting their household finances.”
Forty-two percent of people enrolled in ACA’s marketplace said they would go without health insurance if their premiums doubled.
When asked who they would blame if the tax credits expired, more than 70 percent combined said President Trump or Republicans in Congress. A little more than 20 percent said congressional Democrats.
