California’s rollout of the Affordable Care Act has been held up as a national success story, but not all state residents are applauding.
Just under half of those polled in mid-January (46 percent) said Covered California’s online exchange is working well, about the same percentage that supports Obamacare across the board. About 4 in 10 told the Public Policy Institute of California that the health insurance exchange wasn’t working well.
Covered California received the worst marks from people polled who didn’t have insurance (50 percent negative). Blacks and Latinos tended to see the Obamacare operation in a positive light, while whites did not.
Among the uninsured, 72 percent say they plan to get health insurance this year. Coverage is required by the end of March to avoid penalties for non-compliance. That percentage is up from December, when 66 percent of the uninsured said they planned to buy coverage.
A quarter of those with insurance told pollsters they bought it through Covered California.
Of the Affordable Care Act in general, 44 percent of respondents generally were favorable, and 46 percent generally unfavorable. That contrasts with national sentiment, which is increasingly negative about Obamacare. A December poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found 48 percent unfavorable nationally.
Not surprisingly, most Democrats in the California poll viewed the law favorably (61 percent) and most Republicans view it unfavorably (78 percent).
Pollsters found strong support for Gov. Jerry Brown, who has called for a special Legislative session to develop new laws connected with the Affordable Care Act.
The PPIC polling of about 1,700 Californians was conducted in mid-January.
Meanwhile, Covered California rolled out ratings of its own, posting a four-star system scoring its insurance carriers. The state Obamacare operation had been criticized for removing insurer quality ratings as it launched operations in the fall.
The scores come from the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. Of the Covered California insurance carriers, Kaiser Permanente scored highest (four stars), followed by the other large providers, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield and Health Net. Sharp Health Plan also rated four stars.
In October, Kaiser made public a letter sent to the Covered California board saying “there has never been a compelling reason to deny this information to consumers.” Covered California chief Peter Lee said the outdated and incomplete ratings could give an unfair advantage to some insurers (primarily Kaiser) and possibly confuse consumers.
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