Less than six months after President Obama signed the health reform package there are signs that public support for universal healthcare coverage may be falling among Americans.
Earlier polls showed that although older people have always been skeptical about such a measure — which would require taxpayer funding — their younger counterparts may now increasingly share this sentiment.
Specifically, the average yearly amount adult Americans were willing to pay for universal healthcare fell from $201 in February 2010 to $123 this summer, according to LightSource Poll, conducted by KJT Group, a consulting and research company specializing in the healthcare marketplace.
Overall, it found that only about 32 percent of Americans are willing to pay any extra money each year to achieve universal healthcare coverage. Although there was no party affiliation difference in the average amount people were willing to pay, Republicans were less likely to want to contribute any amount at all.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was passed and signed into law last March, is expected to expand the ranks of insured Americans and prevent insurance companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, when most of its provisions come into full effect in 2014.