Public Opinion Plunges Amid Ballyhooed Obamacare ‘Surge’
Marguerite Bowling /
President Obama will find some dismal numbers in the AP/Gfk poll. Photo: Pete Souza/White House
As the White House continues its victory lap after claiming to enroll more than 6 million Americans in the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges, a survey finds that only one in four Americans supports President Obama’s signature domestic achievement—a new low.
The Associated Press-Gfk poll—online interviews with 1,012 adults conducted before yesterday’s White House announcement of an enrollment “surge”—found that 26 percent support the health law commonly known as Obamacare.
A comparatively small number of Americans, 5 percent, said the launch of Obamacare’s federal and state-run insurance exchanges has gone “very well” or “extremely well.” Those who report the launch as going “somewhat well” jumped from 12 percent in December to 26 percent for March.
Despite the low approval, relatively few Americans (13 percent) believe that the health law will be fully repealed, the survey noted. Seven in 10 say the law will be implemented with changes.
The survey comes two months before health insurers must submit rate proposals for 2015 to government officials. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, health insurer WellPoint Inc. announced in a recent meeting of investors that it may ask the government to approve “double-digit plus” increases for its insurance rates.
An AP article on the survey reports that factory supervisor Teresa Stevens, of Jacksonville, Fla., said her two adult sons shopped on the Obamacare exchanges for health coverage but found the choices too expensive. “It’s not affordable,” she said.
This story was produced by The Foundry’s news team. Nothing here should be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation.