Americans' Approval of the 2010 Affordable Care Act: Self-interest and Symbolic Politics

Public opinion data show substantial variation in attitudes toward the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Utilizing a 2013 Gallup survey of U.S. adults, we examine the effects of self‐interest and symbolic politics measures on several dimensions of ACA approval. Supporting symbolic politics, we find liberal political ideology, democratic party affiliation, and positive evaluations of President Obama are consistently associated with greater approval of the ACA generally, as well as the belief that the ACA will improve the healthcare situation of the United States and one's family specifically. In contrast, self‐interest variables produce less consistent results. Self‐reported familiarity with the law and being uninsured due to one's employer not offering health insurance are associated with greater belief the ACA will improve the healthcare situation of one's family specifically, but not the U.S. healthcare situation generally. Together these findings suggest that political values and symbols—in particular perceptions of President Obama—may be more important in shaping attitudes toward the ACA than self‐interest variables, especially in contexts assessing more generalized support for the legislation.