ObamaCare Poll: ObamaCare Approval Rating Popularity

Our Unbiased ObamaCare Poll Paints a Different Picture of ObamaCare’s Approval Rating

Our unbiased ObamaCare poll paints a different picture of ObamaCare’s approval rating compared to other polling done on ObamaCare’s popularity. It turns out the more people know about the program, the more they like it. Let America know what you think about the Affordable Care Act and Health Insurance Marketplace by participating in the survey below.

ObamaCare Facts is a privately owned website and has no ties to any political party or organization. Our only interest is in spreading awareness about the Affordable Care Act and finding out how Americans feel about the law.

People from around the US are still participating in our most recent poll, so we don’t know what America thinks post open enrollment 2015 yet.  Check out the information below to see what past polls have shown us so far.

Unlike some other polls, our poll gave the people we polled an opportunity to admit that they may not have enough information or may be indifferent to the Affordable Care Act when they were polled.

As new polls on the Affordable Care Act come out, we will make sure to update this page to keep you up to date on the popularity of the program.

ObamaCareFacts.com Open Enrollment 2015 Poll

We are analyzing data from our last poll conducted from November 2014 to March 2015. We will have a study posted below shortly. In the meantime, you can check out the raw data to see exactly what American thinks about the ACA.

About the Poll: We have worked with Touchstone research to create an unbiased poll asking you how people like you use the Health Insurance Marketplace, about their experience with cost assistance subsidies, and people’s thoughts on the legality of subsidies as per the upcoming King V Burwell case.  Whether you love the Affordable Care Act, hate it, or stand somewhere in between, this poll gave you an opportunity to tell the world how you feel.  We will be publishing a detailed analysis of our findings soon.

Recent ObamaCare Polls From Other Sources

Here are some findings of recent polls in regards to ObamaCare (the Affordable Care Act). We have compiled a few of the more telling and thoughtful poll results to give you a few different perspectives on the ACA from a variety of sources.

Check out the November 2014 Kaiser poll on the uninsured.  This poll looked at the uninsured and their awareness of the Health Insurance Marketplace going into open enrollment 2015.

ObamaCare Poll Facts

Before we get to findings of our poll, check out this excerpt from the Wikipedia page on the Affordable Care Act. As you can see a critical breakdown of a Reuters-Ipsos poll and a Kaiser poll shows that Americans have mixed views on the law and find it hard to generalize. However, a few conclusions are evident. Democrats support it; Republicans don’t. Some provisions are more popular than others, and as a rule of thumb, the better someone understands the law, the more likely they are to support it.

People who oppose the law tend to think that it doesn’t do enough or costs too much, while those who support it tend to think that reform is needed regardless of potential costs.

a Reuters-Ipsos poll during June 2012 indicated the following:

• 44% of Americans supported the law, with 56% against it. By party affiliation, 75% of Democrats, 27% of Independents, and 14% of Republicans favored the law overall.
• 82% favored banning insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.
• 61% favored allowing children to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26.
• 72% supported requiring companies with more than 50 employees to provide insurance for their employees.
• 39% supported the individual mandate to own insurance or pay the penalty. By party affiliation, 19% of Republicans, 27% of Independents, and 59% of Democrats favored the mandate.
• Other polls showed additional provisions receiving majority support include the creation of insurance exchanges, pooling small businesses and the uninsured with other consumers so all can take advantage of large group pricing benefits (the community rating), and giving subsidies to individuals and families to make health insurance more affordable.
• Other ideas that were not enacted but which showed majority support included importing prescription drugs from Canada (with its lower, government-controlled prices), limiting malpractice awards, reducing the age to qualify for Medicare, and the Public health insurance option.

When people say they don’t like ObamaCare, many polls assume they are against healthcare reform. However, the opposite is often true. They may want more government-supported healthcare, not less. For instance, when Michael Moore helped to spread awareness of the US health care crisis in with his movie “Sicko,” the movie’s success helped paved the way for health care reform. However, recently Moore called the Affordable Care Act “awful.” He wanted universal healthcare; he didn’t think the act did enough.

We have to remember that some opponents of the ACA are under-informed. They may not understand that ObamaCare and the Affordable Care Act are the same thing or don’t know what provisions are in the law. Some wanted the law to cover more people and lean more to the left, while others thought it went too far to the right. In short, unless the poll specifically asks, we have to infer that a portion of those against the law want more health care reform not less. Please be aware of this fact when reviewing the talking points.

Let’s take a look at the data from our ObamaCare poll. Please feel free to compare it to the data from any other poll to see if others are accurate in reporting what Americans think about ObamaCare.

ObamaCare Polls 2014 and Beyond

We have separated the polls from before 2014 and after. Since many provisions didn’t take affect until 2014 a lot of the polls from before then relied more on speculation than experience.

Kaiser Poll on the Affordable Care Act April 2014

A new Kaiser Poll shows that despite many successes and happy consumers, America remains polarized and confused by the law. Below are some key findings, you can read the whole thing here.

The bottom line on this poll is that those who were affected by the program’s benefits tend to like it especially those who were previously uninsured. Those who had to switch plans or were otherwise inconvenienced, didn’t. The poll also shows Republicans remain steadfastly against reform, while Democrats support it. Lastly, the poll shows that people still don’t understand the law.

Other Polls

Here are some other polls we don’t break down in detail on this page:

• An NPR poll showed ObamaCare to be slightly more popular than Obama.
• Politifact discussed the unpopularity of repeal.
• A CNN article discussed people’s confusion over the ACA and ObamaCare.

ObamaCare Polls From 2013 – 2014

Below is the Poll we did with FreeObamaCareGuide.com and Survey.com, as well as links to other polls from before 2014.

The ‘ObamaCare Facts’ and ‘Free ObamaCare Guide’ Poll

In 2013 we (ObamaCareFacts.com) worked with FreeObamaCareGuide.com and Survey.com to bring you an unbiased perspective on thoughts and opinions toward the ACA going into the first ever open enrollment period. We conducted our survey of more than 2800 Americans from ages 18 to 80 (although the oldest person who responded ending up being 77 years old).

We can assure you that our poll was anonymous, truthful, and contains information from a vast array of people of various ages, income levels, and geographic areas. A special thank you to our polling specialist, Survey.com, for your expertise and professionalism.

We asked 2,818 Americans from ages 18 to 80 the following question regarding ObamaCare:

Which of the following best describes your thoughts on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)?

• Approve: 852 (30.23%)
• Disapprove: 909 (32.25%)
• Indifferent: 293 (10.39%)
• Unsure: 756 (26.82%)

Here are the results of just some of the questions we asked the approximately 2,800 Americans ages 18 to 80. We initially set out to get information on the 18 to 34 year old demographic and have limited the results to just that age group for now. You can, however, gain access to the full results and pull data on your own as you see fit.

Question #1 – Have you heard about the Affordable Care Act?

Of the 18 to 24 demographic (895 responses)

• YES: 837 (93.5%)
• NO: 56 (6.25%)

Of the 25 to 34 demographic (1113 responses)

• YES: 1065 (95.68%)
• NO: 48 (4.31%)

Question #2 – Do you know when ACA registration begins? 

Of the 18 to 24 demographic (895 responses)

• YES: 275 (30.72%)
• NO: 620 (69.27%)

Of the 25 to 34 demographic (1113 responses)

• YES: 377 (33.87%)
• NO: 736 (66.12%)

Question #3 – Do you currently have health insurance? 

Of the 18 to 24 demographic (895 responses)

• YES: 725 (81.05%)
• NO: 170 (18.99%)

Of the 25 to 34 demographic (1113 responses)

• YES: 881 (79.15%)
• NO: 232 (20.84%)

Question #4 – Would you like to receive free information regarding when the ACA begins in your state? 

Of the 18 to 24 demographic (902 responses)

• YES: 302 (33.48%)
• NO: 598 (66.29%)

Of the 25 to 34 demographic (1109 responses)

• YES: 472 (42.56%)
• NO: 634 (57.16)

Question #5 – Which of the following best describes your thoughts on the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)?

Of the 18 to 24 demographic (901 responses)

• Approve: 284 (31.52%)
• Disapprove: 248 (27.52%)
• Indifferent: 116 (12.87%)
• Unsure: 251 (27.85%)

Of the 25 to 34 demographic (1110 responses)

• Approve: 341 (30.72%)
• Disapprove: 351 (31.62%)
• Indifferent: 103 (9.27%)
• Unsure: 312 (28.10%)

To obtain even more granular results, we then took those respondents above and then singled out the ones who earn less than $20,000 a year.

Of the 18 to 24 demographic earning less than $20K Year (356 responses)

• Approve: 115 (32.30%)
• Disapprove: 92 (25.84%)
• Indifferent: 37 (10.39%)
• Unsure: 111 (31.17%)

Of the 25 to 34 demographic earning less than $20K Year (199 responses)

• Approve: 75 (37.68%)
• Disapprove: 48 (24.12%)
• Indifferent: 15 (7.50%)
• Unsure: 61 (30.65%)

Of the 18 to 24 demographic who know ACA start date and earn less than $20K a year (121 responses)

• Approve: 54 (44.62%)
• Disapprove: 31 (25.61%)
• Indifferent: 10 (8.26%)
• Unsure: 26 (21.48%)

Of the 25 to 34 demographic who know ACA start date and earn less than $20K a year (74 responses)

• Approve: 37 (50%)
• Disapprove: 24 (32.43%)
• Indifferent: 3 (4.05%)
• Unsure: 10 (13.51%)

ObamaCare Poll 2013 Conclusion

The conclusion of the ObamaCare is a pretty simple one. The more people know about ObamaCare, the higher they poll and the more popular the law is. People who understand that the ACA helps them approve of it most strongly. Lack of knowledge and misinformation are two of the biggest problems that people have with the Affordable Care Act. Please do your part to help spread the truth about the health care law by sharing the ObamaCare Facts.

An Unbiased ObamaCare Poll