The New York Times  (3/19, Goodnough, Subscription Publication) reports that the gap between Americans who view the ACA favorably and those who do not “is smaller now than at any time since the fall of 2012, a year before the law’s disastrous rollout, according to a monthly poll that has tracked attitudes about the polarizing law since President Obama signed it five years ago.” The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, conducted in early March, found that 43 percent of those surveyed had an unfavorable opinion of the law, while 41 percent viewed it favorably. Though more Americans “continue to reject the law than embrace it, the margin has narrowed considerably even since last July, when 53 percent viewed it unfavorably in the Kaiser poll and 37 percent viewed it favorably.”

National Journal  (3/19, Subscription Publication) reports that the tracking poll also found that, by wide margins, people who live in the 34 states that didn’t set up their own exchanges want their governors and legislatures to protect health insurance subsidies if the Supreme Court rules against the ACA this summer. Nationally, “70 percent of those polled said states should set up their own exchanges if the court rules that only state-run exchanges can offer subsidies.” In states where people could lose the tax credits, “even a majority of Republicans—58 percent—said states should set up their own exchanges.”

Jeffrey R. Ungvary President