Smart Benefits: Polls Show Most Americans Skeptical of Obamacare

Smart Benefits: Polls Show Most Americans Skeptical of Obamacare

A just-released Associated Press - GfK poll reveals a striking level of unease about Obamacare among people who have health insurance and aren't looking for government assistance. And that’s largely due to the fact that nearly 50% of those with employer-provided or other private coverage reported their health insurance coverage will change in 2014 - mostly for the worse.

• Sixty-nine percent say their premiums will increase
• Fifty-nine percent think that deductibles or copays will increase

And almost 77% blame the changes on the Affordable Care Act.

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Exchange Enrollment Disappoints

What about the uninsured? While the state healthcare exchanges are designed for them, the results of a poll by CBS News/New York Times released last week reveal that 58% of the uninsured say they haven’t even looked up information about applying for insurance. And for the 49% who have tried, almost half of them weren’t able to get the information they needed. Only 10% of uninsured Americans who took the poll said they applied for insurance in the exchanges.

Individuals Don’t Like Individual Mandate

According to another well-regarded poll, the Rasmussen Reports, 58% of likely voters oppose the individual mandate, which requires Americans to have insurance. That figure represents a 4% increase over the last month, and the highest opposition so far.

Political Persuasion Plays in Polls

In all of these polls, party affiliation is a key factor when asking about politically-charged issues like Obamacare. According to a recent poll by Fox News, which has a largely Republican viewership, 67% of respondents support delaying Obamacare until all the kinks are worked out and 53% would vote to repeal it. About 20% of democrats would vote to repeal the law.

The bottom line? Most Americans are not convinced that Obamacare will succeed. To them, the outlook for the future looks grim, at best.

 

Amy Gallagher has over 21 years of healthcare industry experience guiding employers and employees. As Vice President at Cornerstone Group, she advises large employers on all aspects of healthcare reform, benefit solutions, cost-containment strategies and results-driven wellness programs. Amy speaks regularly on a variety of healthcare-related topics, and is often quoted by national publications on the subject matter. Locally, Amy is a member of SHRM-RI, the Rhode Island Business Group on Health, and the Rhode Island Business Healthcare Advisory Council.