Kaiser poll shows ObamaCare getting even more unpopular with uninsured

Remember this chart when Democrats continue to talk about the need to keep ObamaCare but just fix its “problems.” The main reason offered for allowing the government to force everyone to participate in the command health-care economy was to make it easier for the uninsured to get coverage. If that’s the case, why do the uninsured actually hate ObamaCare more than the rest of America? Via Instapundit, who writes that “the rubes are catching on“:

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Note what’s happened since the implementation of ObamaCare. In September 2013, positive reaction still edged out negative reactions. By November, despite the supposed high enthusiasm for making insurance available to all, that flipped to 36/39. Ever since, dissatisfaction has rapidly increased, and now only 22% of the uninsured have a positive view of the law — below the already-low 35% in the overall population, according to Kaiser Health. Fifty-six percent view the law negatively, far more than the 47% in the general population now, and in fact higher than any point in either series since the tracking began.

Speaking of enthusiasm, it appears that the uninsured lack it:

Among those who report being uninsured in February, confusion and lack of awareness continue. Half (50 percent) say they don’t have enough information to understand how the law will impact their own families. Nearly two-thirds say they know only a little (37 percent) or nothing at all (26 percent) about the ACA’s health care marketplaces, and just a quarter (24 percent) are aware that the deadline to sign up for coverage and avoid paying a penalty is at the end of March.

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The Huffington Post’s Jeffrey Young calls this “a surprising roadblock” to success:

The Obama administration is running into a somewhat surprising roadblock in its final push to get Americans enrolled in Obamacare ahead of the March 31 deadline: The nation’s uninsured are increasingly suspicious of the law.

Fifty-six percent of those who identified as uninsured in a new poll conducted in February by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a research institution, had an unfavorable view of the health care reform law, compared to just 22 percent who said they view it favorably. The uninsured now see Obamacare less favorably than they did when the enrollment period began in October. As recently as September, more uninsured approved of the law than disapproved.

The survey results illustrate just how deep a hole the Obama administration is in when it comes to gaining the support of those the law is most intended to benefit. Indeed, the new findings show the uninsured feel worse about the law than the public at large. Thirty-five percent of Americans approve of Obamacare and 47 percent are against it, according to Kaiser.

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Why should this be surprising? Polling from Gallup showed in late 2009 that half of the uninsured were satisfied with their access to health care, although not with their costs. ObamaCare forced them to change their status and have increased their costs. The fact that this realization has made the uninsured unhappy can’t be that much of a surprise. And since this trend has now lasted for the past four months, it’s even less surprising than it should be.

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Ed Morrissey 12:40 PM | December 16, 2024
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