82% Say They're Satisfied With Health Coverage as ACA Subsidy Deadline Nears, NBC News Poll Finds

Dec 16•2 min read

The NBC News Decision Desk poll finds 82% of Americans are satisfied with their health insurance, though nearly a quarter reported insurers delayed or denied care in the past two years. Lawmakers face a Dec. 31 deadline to decide whether to extend ACA premium tax credits; Democrats back a three-year extension while some House members weigh shorter bipartisan fixes. The CBO warns that letting the credits expire would raise premiums substantially and could add an average of 3.8 million uninsured people per year over the next nine years.

An NBC News Decision Desk survey released Sunday finds that more than eight in 10 Americans report satisfaction with their health insurance — a result that arrives as lawmakers race to decide whether to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits before a Dec. 31 deadline.

Survey Results

The online SurveyMonkey poll of 20,252 U.S. adults shows 34% of respondents are very satisfied with their coverage and 48% are somewhat satisfied, totaling 82% satisfied. Those who said they were somewhat dissatisfied and very dissatisfied accounted for 12% and 6%, respectively. Nearly a quarter of respondents reported that an insurer had delayed or denied care for them or a family member in the last two years.

Lawmakers Face a Deadline

The Dec. 31 deadline looms for extending ACA premium tax credits enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and extended by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) are pushing a three-year extension of those subsidies. At the same time, an increasing number of House Democrats are considering shorter bipartisan alternatives that would extend credits for one or two years and adjust eligibility rules.

Competing Proposal

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is advocating a different approach: redirecting the tax credits into Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) paired with bronze or catastrophic plans offered on the ACA marketplace.

Projected Impact If Credits Expire

The Congressional Budget Office projects that, if the credits lapse, premiums would rise an estimated 4.3% next year, 7.7% in 2027, and average roughly 7.9% annually from 2026 through 2034. The CBO also estimates the number of uninsured people would increase by an average of 3.8 million per year over the next nine years without a permanent extension.

Public Opinion and Trust

When asked about the ACA itself, 46% of respondents said they prefer keeping the law in place, 24% want it repealed, and 30% are unsure. On which party is better positioned to handle health-care costs, 57% said they trust Democrats more and 43% said they trust Republicans more.

Methodology

The NBC News online poll was conducted from Nov. 20 to Dec. 8 with 20,252 U.S. adults and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.