Public Needs a Dose of Info on Health Care Law

More than 40 percent of American adults don't know that President Obama's health care legislation is now the law of the land.

Call it the Affordable Care Act. Call it Obamacare. But call it the law. The Obama administration is already rolling out application forms for individuals who need coverage. Yet 12 percent of those polled by the Kaiser Family Foundation said they thought that Congress  repealed the law. Another 7 percent said they thought the Supreme Court overturned it. (Nope, though the high court did give states the right to opt out of the Medicaid expansion built into the law.) Another 23 percent just didn't know.

People 65 and older were slightly more knowledgeable: 61 percent of them knew that the Affordable Care Act is law, compared with 58 percent of adults under 65.

The measure, which has sparked legislative battles, talk show diatribes and plenty of discussion, has not lacked for coverage in the media. But when it comes to where people are getting information about the law, the Kaiser poll found, friends and family finished ahead of news organizations, employers, insurers, doctors and government agencies.

About half of those polled said they don't have enough information to judge how the law will affect their families. But that doesn't mean they don't have opinions about it.

About 40 percent of those polled said they don't like the law; 35 percent said they do. Older people were more skeptical than younger people, with 43 percent saying they don't like the law and 32 percent saying they do.

 

Also of Interest

• Patients Willing to Ditch Doctors to Save Money
• 4 Ways Obama's Budget Would Change Medicare
• Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being

 

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