Americans divided on 2010 healthcare act

• Tweet

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Americans are about evenly divided on the prospect of a repeal of the 2010 healthcare law if a Republican is elected president in November, a poll indicates.

Although the overall numbers show 47 percent in favor of such repeal and 44 percent against it, the breakdown along party lines is extreme, with 87 percent of Republicans overwhelmingly favoring repeal and 77 percent of Democrats overwhelmingly opposed, a Gallup poll released Monday indicated.

The poll found 56 percent of Republicans said they strongly favored repeal and 39 percent said they strongly opposed it, indicating a clear mandate for a Republican president to attempt to overturn the healthcare law. The attempt, however, might turn off as many independent voters as it attracts, the poll said.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, which among other provisions requires all U.S. citizens to purchase health insurance or pay a fine. The Supreme Court will hear challenges to the law next month and will decide if the "individual mandate" provision makes it unconstitutional.

The poll indicated 72 percent of all Americans thought it was unconstitutional with 20 percent saying they thought it was constitutional. A whopping 94 percent of Republicans said they thought it was unconstitutional, while 56 percent of Democrats responded they believed it was unconstitutional and 70 percent of respondents said they thought the law was unconstitutional.

The USA Today/Gallup telephone poll was conducted with a random sample of 1,040 adults Feb. 20-21. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 points.