Poll: GOP health bill a far cry from Trump promises

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has called the House-passed health care bill a “great plan,” but a new poll finds that 3 out of 4 people in the United States do not believe it fulfills most of his promises.

The poll out Wednesday from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation also found a growing share of the public concerned that the GOP’s American Health Care Act will have negative consequences for them personally by increasing their costs, making it harder to get and keep health insurance, or reducing quality.

In the poll, only 8 percent said the Senate should pass the House bill as it is.

“There is nothing in this poll, that if you were in the Senate, would cause you to rush out and pass the House bill,” said Drew Altman, president of the foundation, a clearinghouse for health system information. It was the latest in an ongoing series of Kaiser surveys on health care.

Senators are on break this week, back in their home states sounding out constituents. In Washington, staffers are working on a legislative framework that can get 51 votes.

The House bill would eventually lead to 23 million fewer people covered, according to a recent Congressional Budget Office estimate. While it would reduce average premiums over time, it could also destabilize coverage for people with health problems in some states.

The GOP measure would eliminate former President Barack Obama’s Medicaid expansion and limit future federal financing for that safety net program. It would repeal the unpopular requirement that most people get covered or risk fines. It would continue to provide subsidies for private health insurance, but at a reduced level. And it would cut taxes on upper-income people that Democrats raised to finance their Affordable Care Act.

As a candidate and as president, Trump has made reassuring promises about health care. While offering few details, he’s promised to improve coverage and cut costs. Days ago the president tweeted, “I suggest that we add more dollars to Healthcare and make it the best anywhere. ObamaCare is dead - the Republicans will do much better!”

But both the House GOP bill and Trump’s own budget would make big cuts across a range of health care programs, from insurance to medical research.

In the poll, 3 in 4 people said they don’t think the narrowly-passed House bill fulfills most of Trump’s promises. Thirty-five percent it fulfilled none of his promises, while 40 percent said the bill fulfills some Trump promises.

Only 4 percent said the GOP bill fulfilled all of the president’s promises, while another 10 percent said it delivered on most of his promises.