Americans like much of Obamacare, except the law itself

Obamacare remains unpopular, but specific provisions of the federal healthcare law have broad support, according to the latest polling data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

At least 75% of respondents expressed support for health insurance exchanges, subsidies for low-income households and Medicaid expansion. The employer mandate, which takes effect next year for companies with at least 100 workers, was backed by 60% of those surveyed.

The one provision that failed to receive majority support was the individual mandate. Just 35% of respondents favored penalizing Americans who fail to obtain insurance coverage.

Despite strong support for the most significant provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the public still holds an unfavorable view of the landmark healthcare law. Just 41% expressed support for the ACA, compared to 46% who opposed it. Those metrics have been largely unchanged for months. Partisan affiliation remains a strong indicator of viewpoint: 79% of Republicans hold an unfavorable view of the law, while 69% of Democrats have a favorable view. Independents favor it by a margin of 46 to 40.

No consensus among the public exists about which path to follow going forward. Roughly a third of respondents want to repeal the law entirely, while nearly half favor either expanding the law (24%) or implementing it as currently written (21%). The remainder either want to scale it back or have no opinion on the subject.

More than four years after passage, opinions on key Obamacare provisions remain malleable, the Kaiser survey found. For instance, when respondents are told that most Americans will still get coverage through their employer or public insurance programs, support for the individual mandate jumps to 62%. Conversely, if they're told that the mandate would result in some individuals needing to purchase coverage that they find too expensive or don't want, opposition spikes to 79%.

Ignorance about the law remains pervasive. Just 2% of respondents were able to correctly identify the financial penalty—$325, or 2% of income—for failing to acquire insurance in 2015. Nearly three-quarters of respondents indicated that they didn't know the details of the penalty or failed to provide an answer.

In addition, 43% of respondents indicated a belief that the federal healthcare law provides subsidies for undocumented immigrants to purchase coverage. In reality, immigrants who lack proper documentation are prohibited from using the exchanges even to purchase unsubsidized coverage.

Uninsured Americans also are unaware of when they're required to obtain coverage or potentially face a fine. Just 5% of respondents correctly identified February of next year as the deadline. Even so, 57% of uninsured respondents indicated that they plan to obtain coverage in the next few months.

The Kaiser survey included 1,505 adults polled between Dec. 2 and 9. Respondents were split between land line and cellphone users. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Follow Paul Demko on Twitter: @MHpdemko