Affordable Care Act remains divisive
Five years since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), 43 percent of respondents have an unfavorable view of the legislation compared with 41 percent of people who have a favorable view, according to the March 2015 Kaiser Health Tracking poll.
In April 2010, less than a month after the ACA was passed, 46 percent had a favorable view and 40 percent had an unfavorable opinion.
The major U.S. political parties differ in their views on the law. The most recent survey found 74 percent of Republicans had an unfavorable view of the ACA, while 65 percent of Democrats had a favorable view.
The majority of people (57 percent) said the ACA had not affected them or their families, while 19 percent said the law helped them and 22 percent said it hurt them.
The poll’s authors also asked about the King v. Burwell Supreme Court case, in which the plaintiffs are arguing that subsidies to help people afford coverage on the health insurance exchanges should be illegal. Of the respondents, 53 percent said they had not heard of the case, 25 percent said they had heard only a little and 22 percent said they had heard at least something about the case.
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.