When it comes to the Affordable Care Act, there’s no shortage of strong opinions. But there is a shortage of knowledge when it comes to what the law does and how it could affect American families.
A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 49% of Americans don’t know enough about the 2010 law to say how it will affect them personally. That certainly makes it hard to predict how open enrollment in the new health insurance exchanges will go in just 6 months.
White House Photo by Pete Souza
At a recent news conference, President Obama responded to criticism about his implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
But it’s not just the details of the law that have Americans scratching their heads. There are plenty of people who don’t even know for sure if the ACA is the law of the land. The tracking poll conducted in April, found that about 40% of respondents didn’t know that the ACA was still the law and was being implemented. Most simply didn’t know the status of the ACA, but others reported incorrectly that it had been overturned by the Supreme Court or repealed by Congress.
At a recent news conference, President Obama responded to criticism about his implementation of the law and concerns that Democrats in Congress are already nervous that it could hurt them in the 2014 midterm elections.
President Obama defended the implementation but noted that his health care team is facing plenty of obstacles – from Republicans in Congress trying to defund the law to GOP governors who are blocking implementation in the states.
Check out this week’s Policy and Practice podcast to hear more about implementation, changes to the Hospital Readmission Reduction program, and more proposals for full-scale health reform.
mschneider@frontlinemedcom.com
On Twitter @MaryEllenNY