As the deadline to enroll in Obamacare approaches, a new poll indicates that support for the new healthcare law has increased slightly.
In a
CNN/ORC International survey released Tuesday, 39 percent of Americans say they support the healthcare law, up from 35 percent in December, a record low. The rise of 4 percentage points is within the survey's sampling error of 3.5 percentage points. Fifty-seven percent of those polled said they oppose the measure, down 5 points.
"Not all of the opposition to the healthcare law comes from the right," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Thirty-nine percent say they oppose the law because it's too liberal, but 12 percent say they oppose it because it's not liberal enough."
That means that combined with the 39 percent who back the law, a majority of Americans either favor the law or want it to go further. Roughly 6 percent oppose the law but don't have an opinion on whether it is too liberal or not liberal enough.
According to Holland, the recent increase in support has been driven by more educated and affluent respondents, who are among the most likely to vote. Among those who make $50,000 or more a year, support rose from 36 percent to 46 percent over the past two months.
The poll results come at a time when the Obama administration pushes its last-minute enrollment drive before the March 31 deadline. According to the
Washington Examiner, 4 million Americans have signed up for state and federal exchanges at last count, but that figure is still behind the 7 million the administration hoped to enroll.
Initial reports show a shortage of the young, healthy consumers needed to make the law work.
In an effort to boost that number, Obama promoted the law during an appearance on comedian Zach Galifianakis' talk show
"Between Two Ferns" on the comedy website Funny of Die. The series has been viewed over 30 million times.
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During one exchange, Galifianakis asked the president, "Why would you get the guy who created the Zune to make your website?"
"HealthCare.gov works great now, and millions of Americans have already gotten health insurance plans, and what we want is people to know you can get affordable healthcare," Obama responded. "And most Americans, right now, they're not covered, and the truth is they can get coverage all for what it costs you to pay your cellphone bill."
"Is this what they mean by drones?" the comedian struck back.
Later, Galifianakis rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal the results of a spider bite. Obama urged Galifianakis to enroll in the healthcare program, saying, "That's one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen."
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