The latest Economist/YouGov Poll once again found that Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to believe they have already been affected by the health care reform law, and to claim that the impact on them has been overwhelmingly negative.
25% of Democrats say they have been affected by health care reform, and just over half of them say the impact has been positive. But for Republicans – 38% of whom say they have been affected – the perceived impact has been overwhelmingly negative: 93% of those who claim to have been affected say they have been affected negatively.
Can this be true? Have more than a third of Republicans felt a negative personal impact of the law – especially when so little of the law has gone into effect? In the latest poll, those who say they have been impacted were asked exactly HOW they were affected. The explanations were wide-ranging; the partisan differences were stark.
Many of the Democrats who claimed a positive impact pointed to specific reforms that already have been put into place. Children are allowed to stay on a parent’s plan until they are 26 years old; improvements in Medicare Part D (especially the shrinking of the “doughnut hole”); coverage for pre-existing conditions. Even the very few Republicans who see a positive impact name those changes.
Admittedly, these perceived improvements may come with a cost: sometimes keeping a child on a parent’s policy will raise the premium, as at least one person noted.
But what are the negative impacts? In this poll, they are overwhelmingly cost-related, but not necessarily directly related to the reforms. Many people – mostly Republicans, but Democrats and independents, too – point to a rise in their insurance premiums in the new year. They see other changes in their insurance coverage: doctors leaving certain plans, higher co-pays.
Some Americans expected their insurance premiums to be kept low by health care reform. As one Republican said: “I pay extremely high prices for health insurance and I have no medical problems. I cannot see any benefit whatsoever from having the health care reform. It did not keep my insurance premiums from rising.”
Several in the poll pointed out one negative that IS part of the plan – no longer being able to use Flexible Spending Account money for non-prescription drugs. One person wrote; “I can no longer purchase necessary eye medication from my FSA. Without the medication I am nearly blind, but it is OTC.” Or as another Republican noted: “It’s my money and I am being told how to spend it!! They just need to get off of my back.”
But fundamentally the change that most Republicans and Independents see is that their insurance premiums are going up – or that they have higher co-pays – or that they expect to pay more in taxes to fund health care. The increase in premiums is varied. One person reported a rise of 13.7%; another says their premium had nearly doubled. But there is no doubt who they blame – President Obama and the new health care reform law.
This poll was conducted at the end of January, just when people would have noted changes in insurance premiums. And health care insurers likely are using all sorts of formulas for raising rates, and maybe some of them are about future health care costs. But these days, it’s mostly Republicans who are noting the rise in premiums, and saying that it’s the Obama health care reform that‘s to blame for their increased health care costs.
