Donald Trump's Supporters Doubt His Healthcare Plan

In the lead-up to the 2024 election, former president and top Republican contender Donald Trump might have some work to do when it comes to his healthcare policies.

In a new report from health policy research group KFF, only 35 percent of Trump's Republican supporters believe Trump has a healthcare plan to replace the Affordable Care Act.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect in 2010 as President Barack Obama's attempt to reduce the number of uninsured Americans and help low-income households afford healthcare.

The legislation provided subsidies based on income to cut health insurance costs and also allowed states to expand Medicaid by lowering their income qualifications.

Among other provisions, it also outlawed lifetime monetary caps on health insurance plans and prohibited insurers from canceling health insurance. Under the ACA, children could also stay on health insurance until the age of 26.

In the KFF survey, Republican voters generally believed Trump had a better approach to determining the future of the ACA, but many admitted they didn't think Trump had a plan to replace the former ACA or were unsure if he did. Specifically, seven in 10 Republican voters said Trump did not have a healthcare plan to replace the ACA or were unsure.

Among solely pro-Trump Republican voters, the doubt was less concentrated, with only 35 percent saying the same thing, but it could indicate Trump needs to strengthen his healthcare policy campaign moving ahead into the national election.

Among the general population, 42 percent said Trump didn't have a plan to replace ACA, and 43 percent said they were unsure.

Trump said last year he plans to replace the ACA, otherwise known as Obamacare, with an improved version.

"Obamacare is too expensive, and otherwise, not good healthcare," Trump said on his social media website, Truth Social, in December.

Previously, he told the public he wouldn't reverse the ACA entirely but instead replace it with a "much better" option.

Columbia University political science professor Robert Shapiro said Republicans' view that Trump doesn't have an ACA replacement is factual, and despite his previous statements, no viable framework for an ACA reboot has moved forward.

"That MAGA voters don't think there is an alternative, they are correct," Shapiro told Newsweek. "They are realists on this issue. They doubt there is a Trump plan, because there is currently none. Trump promised one long ago, and he has not delivered."

Altogether, voters lacked confidence in Biden's involvement in the ACA as well, despite him being vice president while it was enacted. Only around one in five voters said Biden played a major role in getting the healthcare policy passed, according to KFF.

Ahead of the national election, Biden's healthcare policy campaign has centered around bringing drug and health costs down, including when he capped insulin prices in Medicare and supported Medicare negotiating drug prices.

Shapiro said based on this polling data, the best Trump can do on this issue is simply "not talk about it" and "direct voters to other issues on which Biden is perceived as weak."

"Biden and the Democrats may point to the threat that Trump and the Republicans pose to the ACA and modification of it that have occurred, just as they will point to the threat to Social Security and Medicare," Shapiro said. "The reason the ACA is largely intact is because the public overall has come to like it and want it protected as such."

What Voters Want From The ACA

While the Affordable Care Act has been fiercely debated in the past, new polling revealed the majority of Americans support the healthcare legislation.

Among all U.S. adults, 59 percent saw the ACA favorably, but specific views of the legislation varied largely based on political party.

Among Democrats, 77 percent said they'd like to see the next president expand the law, while 39 percent of Republicans hoped the ACA would be repealed and 23 percent said they'd like it to be modified.

Independents were a more mixed bag, with 48 percent wanting the ACA to be expanded, and 18 percent wanting it to stay the way it is.

Across the board, voters are looking for protections for those with preexisting conditions in national healthcare policy.

Just over two-thirds, or 67 percent, said the rules preventing health insurance companies from denying coverage based on medical history were "very important," and 65 percent said it's important to keep insurance companies from charging sick people higher premiums.

There are many questions Americans have regarding the healthcare law, though, and only a third of respondents correctly stated that the uninsured rate went down since the ACA was enacted in 2010.