Poll: U.S. split on whether to revoke ACA's individual mandate

March 7 (UPI) -- A poll shows Americans are nearly split on whether to revoke the Affordable Care Act's mandate that individuals acquire insurance coverage.

In the CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday, 48 percent favor removing the mandate, while 50 percent oppose removing the mandate first established under former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. One percent had no opinion.

When split along party lines, 55 percent of Republicans and 38 percent of Democrats are in favor of removing the mandate, while 45 percent of Republicans and 60 percent of Democrats oppose its removal.

The poll comes after Republicans in the House of Representatives unveiled healthcare package to repeal and replace the ACA, also known as Obamacare. Under the GOP proposal -- the American Health Care Act -- the individual mandate would be revoked.

The majority of Americans -- 87 percent -- support keeping the protections established under the ACA for people with pre-existing conditions, while 61 percent oppose curbing federal funding for the ACA's expansion of Medicaid. When split along party lines, 49 percent of Republicans and 24 percent of Democrats favor curbing funds for Medicaid, while 46 percent of Republicans and 74 percent of Democrats oppose it.

On the Republican's proposal to shift tax credits from an income-based system to one dependent on age, 46 percent favor the idea, while 50 percent oppose it. On whether to allow insurers to sell coverage in any state regardless of where it holds its license, 66 percent favor the proposal while 31 percent oppose it.

The CNN/ORC poll, which has a 3 percent margin of error, was conducted by telephone from Wednesday through Saturday among a random sample of 1,025 adults.