Public view on ACA U.S. 2010-2023

As of March 2023, 62 percent of the respondents had a favorable opinion on the health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) otherwise know as Obamacare, highest share in the provided time interval.

Opinions about the ACA

Favorability for the health reform law in the United States has fluctuated since 2010 till 2017. In April 2010, 46 percent of U.S. adults had a favorable opinion regarding the ACA, while 45 percent said the same six years later in October 2016. As expected, Republicans tended to consider the ACA as unfavorable while Democrats were more likely to favor the bill. However, after 2017 the share of U.S. who favor the ACA has steadily increased and is steadily above those who view it unfavorably.

The ACA had a major goal, to expand health care coverage. This bill prevents health plans from limiting or denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, arbitrarily withdrawing insurance coverage, and implementing lifetime limits on coverage. The ACA is expected to reduce the number of uninsured individuals by 25 million people by 2023. Those who view the ACA favorably usually reason that the bill will increase health care and insurance access, while the opposition often mentions that the health costs may increase and that the law is too expensive.

Percentage of public with favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from April 2010 to March 2023

Month of survey conducted	Favorable	Unfavorable	Don't know/Refused
March 2023	62%	36%	2%
March 2022	55%	42%	2%
October 2021	58%	41%	2%
May 2021	53%	35%	13%
February 2021	54%	39%	7%
December 2020	53%	34%	13%
October 2020	55%	39%	6%
September 2020	49%	42%	9%
July 2020	51%	36%	13%
May 2020	51%	41%	8%
April 2020	50%	39%	12%
February 2020	55%	37%	9%
January 2020	53%	37%	10%
November 2019	52%	41%	7%
September 2019	53%	41%	6%
June 2019	46%	40%	12%
March 2019	50%	39%	11%
January 2019	51%	40%	9%
October 2018	49%	42%	9%
August 2018	50%	40%	10%
June 2018	50%	41%	9%
March 2018	50%	43%	7%
January 2018	50%	42%	8%
October 2017	51%	40%	9%
July 2017	50%	44%	6%
May 2017	49%	42%	9%
March 2017	49%	44%	7%
December 2016	43%	46%	11%
October 2016	45%	45%	10%
August 2016	40%	42%	17%
June 2016	42%	44%	14%
April 2016	38%	49%	13%
December 2015	40%	46%	14%
August 2015	44%	41%	14%
May 2015	39%	42%	19%
March 2015	41%	43%	16%
January 2015	40%	46%	15%
December 2014	41%	46%	14%
July 2014	37%	53%	10%
November 2013	33%	49%	18%
October 2013	38%	44%	18%
November 2012	43%	39%	19%
October 2012	38%	43%	19%
September 2012	45%	40%	14%
August 2012	38%	43%	19%
July 2012	38%	44%	17%
June 2012	41%	41%	18%
May 2012	37%	44%	19%
April 2012	42%	43%	15%
March 2012	41%	40%	19%
February 2012	42%	43%	15%
January 2012	37%	44%	19%
December 2011	41%	43%	17%
November 2011	37%	44%	19%
October 2011	34%	51%	15%
September 2011	41%	43%	16%
August 2011	39%	44%	17%
July 2011	42%	43%	15%
June 2011	42%	46%	12%
May 2011	42%	44%	14%
April 2011	41%	41%	18%
March 2011	42%	46%	13%
February 2011	43%	48%	8%
January 2011	41%	50%	9%
December 2010	42%	41%	18%
November 2010	42%	40%	18%
October 2010	42%	44%	15%
September 2010	49%	40%	11%
August 2010	43%	45%	12%
July 2010	50%	35%	14%
June 2010	48%	41%	10%
May 2010	41%	44%	14%
April 2010	46%	40%	14%

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Release date

March 2023

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

April 2010 to March 2023

Number of respondents

around 1,200 respondents

Age group

18 years and older

Method of interview

Computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI)

Supplementary notes

Original question: “As you may know, a health reform bill was signed into law in 2010. Given what you know about the health reform law, do you have a generally favorable or generally unfavorable opinion of it?”
Figures may not add to 100 due to rounding.
The number of respondents is not the same for every survey.

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