Poll: Majority likes employer mandate, dislikes ObamaCare

A majority of Americans say they support a controversial piece of ObamaCare that requires large companies to offer healthcare to their employees or face fines, according to a poll released Thursday.

Six in 10 people said they support the employer mandate, which goes into effect next year for businesses with 100 or more workers, according to a poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit group.

The employer mandate has been a sticking point among Republicans, who are still trying to roll back the requirement.

{mosads}Lawmakers argue that forcing companies to provide insurance for full-time workers will result in more part-time work. The fee for failing to provide insurance is $2,000 per employee in 2015, though companies are only required to cover 70 percent of employees in the first year.

Despite support for the employer mandate, overall popularity of ObamaCare remains low.

Five years after the Affordable Care Act passed, nearly 50 percent of people say they have an unfavorable opinion of the law. That compares to 41 percent of people who view the law favorably.

The support for the law ticked up several percentage points in December and is now at its highest point in two years.

The sign of hope for the healthcare law comes after of a tough few weeks of ObamaCare news, including headline-grabbing comments by former consultant Jonathan Gruber and a lawsuit launched by the House GOP.