Why people still don't like Obamacare

The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, one of the most respected and least political, reports that Americans are now evenly divided, with 43% having a favorable view and 42% an unfavorable view of the "Obama Health Care Law."

Note that those who express disapproval, however, include both those who want it to be repealed outright and those who want the scope of the program to be expanded. So, if the question were posed differently, say about the general idea of government sponsored health care insurance, we would expect a higher approval rating.   

There are two more indicators of that:   (1)  When people are asked about various aspects of their insurance coverage, they are more positive than when asked if they approve of the "Obama Health Care Law;"  and (2) A good majority opposes repealing the law.
 
Still, there is far more opposition than there should be to a program that is proving to be so helpful to many people and is reducing the rise in health care costs.  Mark Blumenthal and Jonathan Cohn of the Huffington Post discussed the reasons for that.  I'll briefly outline their reasons and then add some of my own.

The largest factor seems to be partisanship, with a wide split between Democrats, who tend to see it as a success, and Republicans, who use words like "disaster" and "train wreck."   And that partisanship goes beyond just repeating the talking points of their party.   People actually perceive the questions differently.

For example, health care costs are continually going up every year, partly because of general rising costs but also because each year more, newer, and more expensive treatments are becoming available -- and driving up overall costs.    But, if you are already opposed to Obamacare, you tend to blame it for those rising costs.   The truth is that the rate of increase has been slowed since the ACA was implemented.   Slowed by more than anyone expected or predicted.   Rather than wrecking the economy as its opponents predicted, it is actually reining in costs and reducing the deficit.

It's not just rising costs;   Republicans also tend to take any dissatisfaction they have with the health care system and assign the blame to "Obamacare," even if it has nothing to do with the new program.

Another factor is that only about 10% of the population has been affected by the ACA.   Those who were already getting insurance through their jobs, or were already on Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans benefits, or teachers retirement plans didn't experience any change.

The single most predictive factor in how one feels about the ACA is which political party they identify with.  And this factor is magnified for those in the "non-group" market -- that is the 90% whose insurance was not affected but who nevertheless may have concerns about costs to the government or philosophy about what governments should do for its people.

In this "non-market" group, 64% of Democrats approve but only 19% of Republicans.

That's rather astonishing.   But I have a little less faith than do these authors in the people freely making up their own minds based on principles of government.    I think the single largest factor has to be the fact that Republicans have deliberately set out to make the Affordable Care Act fail.   Through bombardment with negative advertising and endless airing of negative talking points on right wing radio and Fox News, they have simply conditioned those susceptible to their views into associating "Obamacare" with "disaster."

It certainly didn't help that the initial rollouts of the internet exchanges were in fact a disaster for the first month.    Despite the near miracle that got it working efficiently, the political damage was done.    And Republican politicians and their enablers have continued their brain-washing barage.

The little demonstration that Jimmy Kimmel did on his late night show was the most telling.   Of course it was not scientific but it illustrated the point.   He went out on the street with a tv camera.    He would stop people and ask them what they thought of "Obamacare."    To those who had a negative view, he would then ask a few more questions of what they thought about some individual aspect of the program.    They would say they like that;  but then he would ask again if they liked Obamacare, and they would say it's terrible.

In something as complex as the introduction of such a major program with so many different parts, it is inevitable the people will have trouble understanding it.    On top of that, Republicans have been masterful in distorting and outright lying to further confuse them.

The Supreme Court let another Monday slip by without revealing their decision on the future of the ACA.    The suspense continues.   There is only one more week to go in the court's term -- and two of the largest decisions of the decade are yet to be announced.

Ralph