Slim majority of Americans negative on Obamacare even as Clinton supports it

U.S. Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton continues to make President Barack Obama's controversial healthcare overhaul part of her campaign, but a recent poll show a slim majority of Americans don't like it.

During an interview earlier this week with a Miami radio station, Clinton defended Obama's healthcare overhaul, saying that if elected she would stand by the controversial system and fix problems with the law.

But despite Clinton's support for the law, a slim majority of Americans do not support it. Forty-four percent surveyed in Gallup's most recent update approve of Obamacare, compared with 51 percent who disapprove, according to a Gallup report released Friday.

The public's approval of the healthcare law has consistently been below the majority level in recent years, ranging from a high of 48 percent shortly after Obama won reelection in 2012 to a low of 37 percent approval in late 2014.

Forty-five percent of Americans now say that Obamacare hurts the healthcare situation and 37 percent say it helps it, with the rest 12 percent saying it has no effect, Gallup's report noted.

The report came out just days after the announcement that Obamacare premiums would increase by 25 percent next year, despite myriad promises by the Obama administration that the health care revamp would bring low-cost healthcare to everyone.

Republican candidate Donald Trump earlier this week said Obamacare was "blowing up," and vowed to repeal and replace it, echoing the sentiments of a number of other Republicans.

Republicans favor a more competitive environment for healthcare, rather than a government-run system. While many Democrats tout such a system as being able to bring low-cost healthcare to low-income people, Republicans said lifting restrictions on insurance would be more beneficial for everyone.

Currently, regulations stipulate that the nation's thousands of health insurers are not allowed to compete in states where they don't have a physical office.

Other Republicans -- and many Americans -- are wary of what they see as a government power grab, with the state, rather than the free market, controlling what kind of healthcare citizens receive.

When asked about repealing Obamacare, 51 percent of Americans said they favor repealing it, while 45 percent said they oppose repealing it, Gallup found.

When asked about keeping Obama's healthcare law in place, 48 percent said they favor keeping it, compared with 49 percent who said they oppose keeping it, Gallup found.

Americans' main concerns about healthcare in the country today are its cost and accessibility, a shift from decades ago when the public told Gallup that the most urgent health problems facing the nation were diseases, Gallup found.

Obamacare, official known as The Affordable Care Act was designed, in large part, to address the minority of the population without healthcare coverage, Gallup noted. The uninsured percentage in the U.S. has fallen significantly since Obamacare was implemented.

But, after six years, the law has yet to gain majority approval. Over half of Americans at this point say they disapprove of it, and only a minority say it has accomplished its objectives.

News reports have recently highlighted the likelihood that health insurance premiums will rise significantly next year, likely leading to increased public criticism of the law, Gallup noted. Endit