Amidst Republican efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Americans have begun to pay closer attention to the health care debate—and support for the ACA has grown, according to health policy expert John McDonough of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
After the presidential election, polls on the favorability of the ACA began to increase, as Americans began focusing on health care policies under debate such as Medicaid expansion and whether or not insurance companies would be able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, according to a July 18, 2017 commentary on WBUR’s Cognoscenti by McDonough, professor of the practice of public health at Harvard Chan School.
“Mindless, casual opposition to Obamacare became tougher when opponents of the law had to articulate a replacement,” wrote McDonough. “The end result is a public far more informed, aware and alert to the details of the Affordable Care Act and health policy.”
He added, “As stressful as this process has been, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger—and the Affordable Care Act has never been in better standing with the American public than it is today.”
Read the Cognoscenti article: Obamacare: What Doesn’t Kill It Makes It Stronger
Learn more
Health reform prospects uncertain in Senate (Harvard Chan School news)
Quick take: The Senate GOP’s proposed health care plan (Harvard Chan School news)