Majority of U.S. Residents Say They Are Unaffected by ACA, Poll Finds

A majority of U.S. residents say that neither they nor their families have been affected by the Affordable Care Act, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's latest monthly tracking poll, Kaiser Health News' "Capsules" reports (Carey, "Capsules," Kaiser Health News, 5/30).

The poll was based on phone surveys of 1,505 U.S. residents, including 1,279 registered voters, between May 13 and May 19 (KFF release, 5/30).

Poll Findings

The poll found that as many as six in 10 U.S. residents say that neither they nor their families have been affected by the ACA. Among respondents who said they had been affected by the law, the poll found that 37% of self-identified Republicans said the law negatively affected them, compared with just 5% of self-identified Democrats.

In comparison, 26% of Democrats who said they were affected by the law indicated that their families had benefited from it, compared with just 8% of Republicans who said the same.

The poll also found that:

• 30% of respondents believed the law helped someone they know obtain coverage;
• 23% said they knew someone who had lost their job as a result of the law; and
• 19% reported that they knew someone who faced a reduction in work hours because of the law.

According to the poll, Democrats were more likely than Republicans to report knowing someone who benefited from the law, at roughly 46% versus 19%. Meanwhile, 34% of Republicans reported knowing someone who suffered a reduction in work hours or was laid off because of the law, compared with 15% of Democrats ("Capsules," Kaiser Health News, 5/30).

The poll also found that 51% of registered voters want their congressional representatives to stop discussing the ACA and focus their attention on other domestic priorities, while 43% said they want lawmakers to continue debating the health care law (Viebeck, The Hill, 5/30).

Meanwhile, 52% of registered voters said they would consider a candidate's position on the ACA when casting their vote in the upcoming elections, while roughly three in 10 voters said that a candidate's stance on the law would be the deciding factor ("Capsules," Kaiser Health News, 5/30).