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WASHINGTON. – The recent US government shutdown may have distracted some Americans from the bungled rollout of Obamacare, but a new Pew survey shows many people are well aware of just how bad things are for the law’s new insurance websites. Forty-six percent of Americans polled on October 9 to 13, while the shutdown was in full swing, said the Affordable Care Act’s online insurance exchanges were working “not too well” or “not working at all.”
While about 41 percent of Americans approve of the ACA, according to Pew, negative public perception of the exchanges could hinder the administration’s plan to enrol 7 million people in private health plans through the exchanges by the end of 2014.
Before the error-riddled launch on October 1, the White House promised the exchanges would be easy-to-use tools, allowing consumers to compare and buy insurance policies in the same way they book travel or buy books online. The harder the exchange websites are to use – or the harder consumers think they are to use – the less likely people are to log on or sign up.
These persistent problems mean many of those who have enrolled so far have done so only after making multiple attempts to navigate slow and crash-prone websites.
While President Obama sought to reassure the public in a speech on Monday that exchange-website malfunctions were being fixed, a separate poll found that many believe technical problems plaguing the websites may indicate that the entire law is broken. A Washington Post–ABC News poll conducted October 17 to 20 and released October 21 found that 56 percent of those surveyed believed the “website glitches” are “part of a broader problem with the health care law.”
This comes as some congressional Republicans have called for the resignation of the woman in charge of the roll out, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The White House has said it stands by her. Even some White House allies, including former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs, have said firings would be an appropriate response in the wake of the botched roll out.
After wrangling over dates, Sebelius agreed to testify about the exchanges before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on October 30. – Times.
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