Vast Majority of Americans—Including Trump Supporters—Want Health Insurance Subsidies Extended: Poll

As the shutdown of the US federal government drags on, a new poll from KFF shows that the vast majority of Americans are supportive of Democrats' top negotiating demand.

In total, the newest KFF Health Tracking Poll has found that 78% of Americans want Congress to extend enhanced tax credits for people who buy their health insurance through exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), compared to just 22% of Americans who want to let the credits expire.

KFF found that majorities of Americans across all political demographics want the subsidies extended, including 92% of Democrats, 82% of independents, and even 57% of Republicans who identify themselves as part of President Donald Trump's MAGA movement.

KFF's poll also found that Trump and the GOP will likely shoulder the most blame if the enhanced subsidies aren't extended.

"About 4 in 10 (39%) adults who want to see the tax credits extended say that if Congress does not extend these enhanced tax credits, President Trump deserves most of the blame, while another 4 in 10 (37%) say the same about Republicans in Congress," KFF explains. "About 2 in 10 (22%) say that Democrats in Congress deserve most of the blame."

The KFF poll also showed that many Americans would likely lose their insurance if the tax credits weren't extended. In fact, 42% of those who bought insurance on the individual market said they would go without insurance should their premiums double, which is what many analysts have projected will happen if the subsidies aren't kept in place.

Recent research from KFF found that most people who buy insurance through the ACA are set to see their premiums rise by over 75% unless Congress steps in and renews enhanced subsidies that had been passed into law under the American Rescue Plan in 2021.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Trump administration is expressing alarm behind the scenes about the political ramifications of allowing the tax credits to expire, and some White House staffers "are discussing proposals to extend the enhanced subsidies."

The Journal report also noted that Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio has been sounding the alarm for months about the electoral vulnerabilities Republicans face if they fail to act on insurance subsidies, and he wrote in a memo over the summer that the issue could even hurt the GOP among their own base voters.

"By broad bipartisan margins, voters want to see the tax credits extended rather than expire at the end of the year, whether in the context of premiums doubling or 5 million families losing their health insurance,” the memo said. “This includes solid majorities of Trump voters and swing voters.”

The expiring subsidies aren’t the only threat to Americans’ healthcare, as Republicans over the summer passed a massive budget law that cut spending on Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, which the Congressional Budget Office estimated would result in more than 10 million people, among the nation’s poorest, losing their coverage. Congressional Democrats have also demanded undoing some Medicaid cuts in government shutdown negotiations.