Six in 10 uninsured Americans who visited one of Obamacare’s health care exchange website in the last three months say their experience was mostly negative, as the White House touts new enrollment numbers and tries to mitigate fallout from the disastrous rollout of the federal Healthcare.gov website.
Fifty-nine percent who visited an exchange website in December say their experience was “negative” or “very negative,” compared to 39 percent who said it was “positive” or “very positive,” according to new numbers from Gallup. Combined totals from October and November Gallup polling showed 63 percent of visitors saying they had a negative experience and 33 percent reporting a positive one.
The Obama administration had set a goal of Nov. 30 to have all the major technical glitches with the federal exchanges fixed. Of the people who visited an exchange, 24 percent say they went to the federal one, 20 percent said a state exchange, 17 percent said both, and more than a third — 37 percent — were unsure.
Twenty-six percent of uninsured Americans say they’ve visited an exchange, up from 20 percent for October and November. Prior Gallup tracking has shown that less than half of uninsured Americans plan to sign up for coverage through an exchange, instead opting for a plan through their employer or a family member.
Thirty percent of uninsured Americans say they’re more likely to forgo insurance and pay the law’s fine rather than sign up.
The poll was conducted Dec. 1-29 is of 1,563 adults who do not have health insurance. It has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.
The sample of 454 uninsured adults who have visited a health insurance exchange website had a margin of error of ±6 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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