Only 15 percent of U.S. adults say Obamacare has helped them directly, according to a new poll that finds a quarter think it did them harm.
More than half of adults — 56 percent — say the Affordable Care Act has not impacted them at all, according to a poll of about 1,000 people by the National Public Radio and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The numbers shift, however, when people are asked if the Affordable Care Act helped residents of their states, with 35 percent saying it directly helped fellow residents, 27 percent feeling it harmed people, and 21 percent saying it had no direct impact.
Mixed attitudes about Obamacare are consistent with other polling that finds Americans are still split over the law’s usefulness and benefits, nearly six years after passage and more than two years into full implementation. The findings also reflect complex feelings about the U.S. health system overall.
Nearly half of those polled say they care they receive is “good,” although only a third say it is “excellent.”
And while about six in 10 people say the amount they pay for health care and prescription drugs in “reasonable,” people are more likely to say their drugs and services have become less affordable over the past two years than more affordable.
About a third say their health care services have gotten less affordable, while only 9 percent say they’ve become more affordable.
For prescription drugs, the split is 22-10 percent, tilting toward “less affordable.”
For both categories, more than half of adults say their costs have stayed about the same.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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