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Poll: A Third of Americans Don’t Know Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act Are the Same Thing

Aric Jenkins
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Aric Jenkins
Aric Jenkins
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Aric Jenkins
By
Aric Jenkins
Aric Jenkins
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February 7, 2017, 3:20 PM ET
US-HEALTHCARE-OBAMACARE
An Obamacare logo is shown on a clinic in Miami, Florida on January 10, 2017. As President-elect Donald Trump's administration prepares to take over Washington, they have made it clear that overturning and replacing the Affordable Care Act is a priority. / AFP / RHONA WISE (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images)Photograph by Rhona Wise—AFP/Getty Images

Roughly one-third of Americans don’t know that Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act are the same thing, according to a recent poll.

The poll, conducted by Morning Consult and published by the New York Times, found that 35% of Americans either believe that Obamacare and the ACA are different policies (17%) or didn’t know if they were (18%).

Other questions in the survey showed an apparent confusion surrounding the law — not just whether or not Obamacare or the ACA are the same, but the consequences of repealing the law without a replacement.

For example, 72% of those who identified as Republican said they were aware that Obamacare and the ACA were the same, but more than half either believed Medicaid and subsidies would not be affected without a replacement (29%) or did not know it would impact them at all (24%).

Almost 80% of Democrats knew that Medicaid and subsidies would be eliminated without an Obamacare replacement. The poll notes that confusion about the policy was widespread among 18-29 year olds — an age group that leans towards the left.

The poll was conducted between Jan. 25-26 from a sample of 1,890 adults. The margin of error was +/- 2 percentage points.

 

 

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Aric Jenkins
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