Americans who already have health insurance are blaming President Barack Obama's health care overhaul for raising the costs of their policies while making them pay a larger share of their medical bills out of pocket, and overall 3 in 4 say the rollout of coverage for the uninsured has gone poorly.
An Associated Press-GfK poll finds that health care remains politically charged going into next year's elections when control of both houses of Congress will be at stake. Keeping the refurbished HealthCare.Gov website running smoothly is just one of Obama's challenges, maybe not the biggest.
The poll found a striking level of unease about the law among people who have already have health insurance and aren't looking to take advantage of the new law. Those are the 85 per cent of Americans who the White House says don't have to be worried about the president's historic push to expand coverage for the uninsured. Most Americans get their health insurance coverage through plans offered through their employer, or from government programs covering the elderly, poor, disabled, and active duty military and veterans. The US has been the only leading industrial country without universal health care coverage.
Obama's Affordable Care Act is intended to provide coverage for millions of uninsured Americans by raising income levels to qualify for Medicaid the government program that covers the poor and creating state and national exchanges through websites that offer the uninsured an opportunity to obtain lower-cost coverage at group rates with many qualifying for government subsidies to make their rates more affordable. The United States is the only major industrial country without a universal health care system.
