Despite sales efforts, polls show continued Obamacare doubts

Even as states like California push the health law exchanges, bolstered by a growing list of celebrity pitchmen, surveys of some groups -- among them, physician practices and likely Virginia voters -- show continued doubts about the marketplaces.

The Washington Post: California Aggressively Pushes Health-Care Law
Fliers and tablet computers in hand, a small team of outreach workers from a local nonprofit health clinic blanketed a shopping strip east of Los Angeles, spreading the word about the state's expanding health insurance landscape under Obamacare. Stopping passersby on the sidewalk as they ducked in and out of the row of discount stores and easy-credit furniture shops at the Valley Mall, the workers assured them that the changes would put health insurance within the reach of more Californians. The mostly Latino shoppers seemed intrigued, but they also were skeptical. They worried about the penalties imposed on those without insurance. They worried about the cost of policies. And they did not know where and how to sign up (Fletcher, 10/7).

ABC News: More Celebrities Stage Star-Studded Effort to Sell Obamacare
In the week since the launch of the law's state health insurance exchanges, a steady stream of celebrity advocates (think Lady Gaga, Connie Britton, Olivia Wilde, Taye Diggs, Kate Bosworth, Sarah Silverman and Justin Long) have taken to social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to encourage Americans to #GetCovered (to use their preferred hashtag) (Konstantinides, 10/8).

Politico: Politico Poll: Virginians Not Pleased With ACA Rollout
Forty percent of likely Virginia voters rate the implementation of the health law as "poor" and another 18 percent describe it as just "fair," according to a new POLITICO poll, conducted this weekend by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling and the Republican firm Harper Polling using automated survey methodology. Twenty-five percent of those surveyed say the rollout has been "good." The findings suggest the technical problems with the health law rollout have permeated public consciousness in the state, which is relying on the federal exchange's infrastructure. Just 11 percent rate implementation as "excellent." The partisan split over the health law was as sharp as ever, with 89 percent of Republicans polled calling Obamacare implementation "poor" or "fair" and 81 percent of Democrats calling it "excellent" or "good" (Cheney, 10/7).

Medpage Today: Docs Skeptical Of ACA Exchanges, Survey Shows
A majority of physician practices (55.5 percent) hold an "unfavorable" or "very unfavorable" view of the impact the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) health insurance exchanges will have on them, a survey of more than 1,000 group practices showed. Almost as many (40.2 percent) said they were still evaluating their options or planning not to participate with insurance products sold on the exchanges, according to a survey that the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) released Monday at its annual meeting (Pittman, 10/7).


http://www.kaiserhealthnews.orgThis article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

 

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