A new Rasmussen survey finds that most voters for the first time want Congress to fix the new national health care law rather than repeal it.

While 30% of likely voters still think Congress should repeal it entirely and start over again, 52% prefer instead that Congress go through the law piece by piece and improve it. Just 13% want to leave the law as is.

Wonk Wire: Obamacare supporters’ rhetoric could undermine latest legal challenge

“House Republicans filed a long-threatened lawsuit Friday against the Obama administration over unilateral actions on the health care law that they say are abuses of the president’s executive authority,” the New York Times reports.

“The lawsuit — filed against the secretaries of the Health and Human Services and Treasury Departments — focuses on two crucial aspects of the way the administration has put the Affordable Care Act into effect.”

“With the health insurance marketplace now open for a second year, President Obama will be depending more than ever on the insurance companies that five years ago he accused of padding profits and canceling coverage for the sick,” the New York Times reports.

“Those same insurers have long viewed government as an unreliable business partner that imposed taxes, fees and countless regulations and had the power to cut payment rates and cap profit margins.”

“But since the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, the relationship between the Obama administration and insurers has evolved into a powerful, mutually beneficial partnership that has been a boon to the nation’s largest private health plans and led to a profitable surge in their Medicaid enrollment.”

Gallup: “As the Affordable Care Act’s second open enrollment period begins, 37% of Americans say they approve of the law, one percentage point below the previous low in January. Fifty-six percent disapprove, the high in disapproval by one point.”

“Repeal is highly unlikely, given Obama’s veto power, but the law’s new low in approval — and new high in disapproval (56%) — could potentially have an impact on its future. The president himself has acknowledged he will consider modifications to the law, which could include repealing the tax on medical devices.”

Wonk Wire: Who still lacks health insurance?

A new Gallup poll finds that 71% “of those who bought new health insurance policies through the government exchanges earlier this year rate the quality of their healthcare and their healthcare coverage as ‘excellent’ or ‘good.’ These positive evaluations are generally similar to the reviews that all insured Americans give to their health insurance.”

“Among those who bought new health insurance policies through the exchanges, the majority are about as satisfied with their coverage and healthcare as are other Americans — suggesting that the end result of the exchange enrollment process is a generally positive one for those who take advantage of it.”

“The Republican Party’s ardent campaign against President Obama’s health-care law gained new momentum Wednesday as lawmakers reacted angrily to assertions by an architect of the policy that it was crafted in a deliberately deceptive way in order to pass Congress,” the Washington Post reports.

“On both sides of the Capitol, leading conservatives said they may call economist Jonathan Gruber to testify about his remarks, which were made last year and surfaced this week in a video on social media. In the video, Gruber suggests that the administration’s signature health-care legislation passed in part because of the ‘stupidity of the American voter’ and a ‘lack of transparency’ over its funding mechanisms.”

Wonk Wire: Will the GOP’s anti-Obamacare alternative “kill people.”

Wonk Wire: “So it turns out there is an Obamacare death panel after all. It has nine members and it operates out of a marble building directly across the street from the Capitol.”

First Read: “The newest round of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act begins in less than a week, just as the law comes under a new threat with the Supreme Court’s decision that it will hear a new challenge questioning its government subsidies.. The case raises the stakes for HealthCare.gov too; the last thing the Obama administration needs is a repeat of last year’s embarrassing technical glitches. On the flip side, the lawsuit could have an important political effect: It could give GOP leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner leeway to avoid dealing with the issue of health care right away. By having a court case to point to, Republicans could delay the health care showdown between their party and the White House – and even one within the GOP itself.”

“Congressional midterm losses aside — when it comes to health care, Democrats might be even more stung by the party’s big losses in governors’ mansions and state legislatures last Tuesday. Democrats were counting on a few more gubernatorial wins, which would have boosted the number of states expanding Medicaid or starting state exchanges. The more folks who are insured through ACA, the more entrenched the law becomes – which in turn makes it harder to dismantle.”

Wonk Wire: Could the Supreme Court destroy Obamacare?

A new Public Opinion Strategies (R) Election Night Poll shows that the Affordable Care Act was not as much of a vote factor in 2014 as it was in 2010.

Key findings:

• Less than one-third of voters (32%) recalled seeing, reading, or hearing any campaign commercials on the topic of the health care law or Obamacare. This is drastically different than voter recall levels in 2010 where nearly seven in ten voters (69%) recalled campaign commercials on the ACA.
• The 32% of voters who recalled seeing, reading, or hearing campaign commercials on the topic of the ACA this election report the commercials were overwhelmingly in opposition to the ACA. This is consistent with the 2010 election.

Wonk Wire: Repealing Obama: From political stunt to proposed policy?