Gallup poll: Approval of Obamacare hits new low

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Obamacare's popularity has sunk to a new low with only 37 percent of U.S. adults saying they approve of the health care law, the Gallup poll reported Monday.

The law has never been overwhelmingly popular with approval ratings generally running between the high 30s and low 40s, Gallup said. The current approval rating is the law's worst ever, one percentage below the one Gallup found in January.

The sharp partisan divide continued, with 74 percent of Democrats, 33 percent of independents and only 8 percent of Republicans saying they approve of the law. Even among Democrats, support has dropped from a high of 3 percent in late 2013.

Support among non-whites, who tend to be Democrats, has dropped to 56 percent.

The drop in approval for the Affordable Care Act comes as the law's second open enrollment period opens and in the wake of the midterm elections where many Republican candidates promised to repeal it if they got control of the Senate. But the law appears to have had some success with Gallup reporting in October that the percentage of U.S. adults who are uninsured has dropped by almost 4 percentage points since the fourth quarter of 2013.

"Though the law's implementation suffered setbacks last fall, government officials have greater optimism for the health insurance website's usability this time around," Gallup concluded. "Importantly, though, approval of the law has remained low throughout the year even as it has had obvious success in reducing the uninsured rate. And with approval holding in a fairly narrow range since last fall, it may be that Americans have fairly well made up their minds about the law, and even a highly successful second open enrollment period may not do much to boost their approval."

Galllup surveyed 828 adults between Nov. 6 and Nov. 9. The margin of error is 4 points.