Six months after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the number of Americans who say they’re confused about the measure is on the rise, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The poll of 1,200 adults ages 18 and older, including
1,081 adults who said they’re registered to vote, revealed that 53 percent of respondents are confused about healthcare reform, the highest level since April. The healthcare reform act passed in March.
But the number of respondents who said they’re pleased with the reforms also rose, to 40 percent, and the number who said they’re angry over the measure hit an all-time high of 32 percent. Forty-eight percent of those polled said they’re disappointed at the measure.
Emotional reactions to healthcare reform
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Polls
The poll also revealed a slight edge in those with favorable views of the act, with 49 percent reporting positive views versus 40 percent with a negative opinion. Likely voters in the fall election are just about evenly split between positive and negative views, with 46 percent reporting favorable impressions and 45 percent reporting unfavorable views. Opponents of the law, however, "continue to hold their views more emphatically than supporters," according to the survey.
"Misperceptions about the law also persist: for example, three in ten seniors believe the law will permit government panels to make decisions about end-of-life care for Medicare recipients (often referred to as ‘death panels’)," according to the survey. "When it comes to voter turnout and vote choice, the September tracking survey suggests that, at least at this point, health reform is not playing a major role or providing a decisive advantage to one party’s position over the other."
