Americans with health insurance blame Obamacare for cancellations and prices - National Government
1. Americans with health insurance blame Obamacare for
cancellations and prices - National Government
A new Associated Press-GfK poll found that a majority of Americans who currently have health
insurance believe that the Affordable Care Act will harm their coverage by raising premiums or
causing their plans to be canceled, Real Clear Politics reported on Sunday.
The poll found that, for Americans who currently have health insurance provided as a benefit from
their job or obtained elsewhere, 69 percent report that their premiums will be increasing. Fifty-nine
percent said they will be seeing an increase in their annual deductibles or copayments.
Nearly half said their policies will be changed within the year, "mostly for the worse."
"Only 21 percent of those with private coverage said their plan is expanding to cover more types of
medical care, though coverage of preventive care at no charge to the patient has been required by
the law for the past couple of years," report Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Jennifer Agiesta for Real
Clear Politics.
"Fourteen percent said coverage for spouses is being restricted or eliminated, and 11 percent said
their plan is being discontinued."
Of those polled, 77 percent blamed Obamacare for these issues.
Around 5 million people have had their health insurance policies canceled since Obamacare went
into effect on Oct. 1. By fall of next year, 50 to 100 million plans are expected to be canceled due to
Obamacare.
Despite the problems associated with Obamacare, some Democrats have tried to portray it in a
positive light.
During a Congressional hearing last week, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., told Health and Human
Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, whose agency controls HealthCare.gov, that Obamacare is
2. "one of the great achievements of our country throughout its entire history."
Despite Schakowsky's praise, most Americans don't agree, as evidenced by the Associated Press-GfK
poll. Other polls have shown similar findings, with Pres. Obama's approval ratings hitting record
lows, with the botched rollout of Obamacare being what respondents claim shaped their opinion.