Given the alarming number of duplicate "enrollments" and the failure of many “enrollees” to pay their first month’s premiums, the idea that more than 8 million Americans had successfully signed up for health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges was ludicrous on its face. Nevertheless, the White House touted this "achievement" as evidence that the law was somehow working despite all evidence to the contrary: the rocky roll-out, the countless millions unexpectedly sent cancellation notices, and the implosion of several state exchanges. And yet the White House, I assume, was hoping that after touting this bogus figure ad nauseam, overall support for the law would improve dramatically. Nope. A new Gallup poll -- conducted at the end of May and thus weeks after the president’s misguided touchdown celebration -- throws icy water on that much-hoped-for outcome:
“Net approval of the Affordable Care Act now stands at -8 points, reflective of the fact that more Americans disapprove than approve,” the pollsters write. “This is the least negative tilt measured since the -3 recorded in late October 2013.” And yet, only 37 percent now say the law will improve the U.S. health care system overall while 44 percent say it won’t. A plurality -- 16 percent -- says its impact will be negligible.
I think it's fair to assume that the Affordable Care Act is and will remain unpopular for the foreseeable future -- the White House’s attempts to shape and mold public opinion notwithstanding. Hence why Senate hopefuls Natalie Tennant (D-WV), Michelle Nunn (D-GA) and Alison Lundergan Grimes (D-KY) are awkwardly avoiding questions related to this law altogether.