As a general rule, among business owners that provide employee benefits to their workers, most have indicated that they don't think the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should continue to move forward as presently constituted. In the general public, though, there isn't the same unity, according to the latest polling data.
Conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International on behalf of consumer financial information firm Bankrate, opinions of the ACA largely depend on the age of people being asked. For example, among individuals between 18 and 29, more than half – 51 percent – said that they were in favor of the health reform law. However, positive sentiment was far less common among older individuals. For those 65 and older, just 32 percent said they supported the healthcare overhaul.
The poll also found a trend among proponents and detractors of the ACA from a standpoint of geographical location. For example, among Midwesterners, 55 percent advocated repealing the healthcare law – more than any other region. Meanwhile, individuals in the Northeast were the least likely to feel this way at 38 percent.
"While the country is divided on Obamacare, consumers must stay focused on getting informed about how the law will affect them," said Doug Whiteman, insurance analyst at Bankrate.
In the days immediately following the opening of the state-based health insurance marketplaces, many websites experienced major glitches, going offline entirely for hours at a time due to heavy traffic, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. More recently, though, these websites have operated with fewer incidents. According to insurance news website BenefitsPro, more than a dozen reporters visited 15 different exchange websites on Oct. 4. Of these, 12 were operating "reasonably smoothly."
