Opinion Piece: The Affordable Care Act Still Unpopular with Americans

Although it was thought to become a popular law, once passed, the Affordable Care Act  (ACA) has yet to gain positive traction with the majority of voters. Democrats promised that the law would change people’s lives for the better, however,  it has yet to reach that goal. With the enrollment window for health insurance plans coming to a close this week, most polls show that significantly more American’s are against the ACA than for it.  Nine nonpartisan polls were released in March, showing over 50% of those being polled opposing the law.

There could be many reasons for the unpopularity of the ACA. Since it’s rollout, it seems to have faced one set back and controversy after another, starting with the horrible launch of healthcare.gov, a blunder which was acknowledged even by the president.

Another setback was that people were promised that they could keep their plans if they liked it. However, cancellation letters sent out earlier this year debunked that statement, causing it to become the Politifact “Lie of the Year”.

According to the latest count 7 million people have signed up for insurance plans through the exchanges, but there’s no official data about how many of those signups were previously uninsured, or if the newly enrolled are young and healthy enough for the insurance polls to work.

Although the ACA faces difficult problems and unpopularity, there is even less support for fully repealing the ACA, especially since some elements of the law, such as allowing children as old as twenty-six to stay on their parents plan, are quite popular.

The future of the ACA, and the changes that need to be made are uncertain, but from here on out American’s are probably likely to judge this law based on how it affects them personally.

If you want to read more about this opinion piece, head on over to the Daily Beast. Contact the Kenneth G Law Firm today.

Kenneth G. Marks has been practicing personal injury law since he was admitted to the California Bar in 1981. www.KmarksLaw.com