New Year, Same Story on Obamacare

The Washington crowd that supported the new health care law now knows that the folks back home aren’t feeling so good about it. No matter what your beliefs are regarding this massive legislation, it seems that voters across the country want to change—or even repeal—this health care law. In early December, Rasmussen Reports claimed that 1 out of 2 voters wanted to “scrap it completely and start over again.”

Problems continue for the government health exchange website in this new year as the federal government strives to sign up more uninsured Americans to fulfill the promise of efficient health care and real cost savings. One of the many problems associated with this whole scenario is the growing realization that people simply aren’t buying the supposition that the new law will actually save money. In a recent Rasmussen poll surveying opinions during the end of December, fully 56% of likely voters viewed the health care law somewhat unfavorably—and 58% believe that it will drive up costs and increase the deficit, and even hurt the quality of health care in this country.

That doesn’t sound like things are going in the right direction. And it is a far cry from the promises made when Obamacare was pushed through into law. Furthermore, the public is not optimistic that problems will be fixed within this calendar year, with only 37% believing that there is some likelihood that current problems will be addressed and fixed during that time period.

And the uninsured people who are the target of the health care law and are likely the ones who should feel more positively about it are having negative experiences trying to sign up for affordable insurance. A Gallup poll reported on attitudes, from December 1 through 29, after the technical difficulties experienced at the launch of the health exchange website were to be corrected. Customer experience was 59% negative versus 39% positive throughout this critical month.

But perhaps even more alarming is the reading that only 26% of Americans who are uninsured, and therefore “customers” of Obamacare, have visited the health exchange website. And prior Gallup polls have indicated that 30% of uninsured Americans say they are likely to not even bother with insurance at all, and will go ahead and pay the fine rather than sign up.

It’s a new year, but it’s not a fresh start for this flawed national health program that is bound to disappoint many and solve few, if any, of our country’s health care challenges.

Thank you for reading!

Mike Hennessy

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer