For the first time in more than a decade, a majority of Americans say it’s not the government’s responsibility to ensure access to healthcare.
A new Gallup survey shows an all-time low in public support for a government guarantee of healthcare coverage — just as President Obama’s healthcare law is bringing that guarantee dramatically closer to reality.
Only 44 percent said it’s the government’s responsibility to ensure that all Americans have access to healthcare coverage, while 54 percent said healthcare access is not the government’s responsibility.
It’s the first a majority of the public has opposed a government guarantee.
Gallup has been asking the question for 12 years, and support for a government guarantee of healthcare has fallen steadily under President Obama.
In 2007, 64 percent said the government had a responsibility to ensure that all Americans have access to healthcare, which fell to 50 percent during the grueling healthcare debate of 2009 and 2010 until finally slipping below the halfway mark in the latest survey.
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