Youth Break With President on Obamacare Support in Poll

[Purveyor]

By John McCormick - Dec 4, 2013

The nation’s youth, a group that twice rallied behind President Barack Obama at the ballot box, is failing to support his signature domestic achievement and increasingly disillusioned with his presidency.

More than half of those 18 to 29 years old say they disapprove of Obamacare and half expect it will increase their health-care costs, a survey by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics shows. Four in 10 say they anticipate the quality of their coverage will get worse because of the law.

In a finding perhaps even more troubling for the White House, almost half in that age group, the so-called millennials, say they’re unlikely to enroll in insurance through a government exchange, even if eligible. That could put at risk the economics of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which needs young, healthy people to enroll in large numbers to offset the costs of caring for older, sicker Americans.

“There are very few aspects of the health-care initiative that they approve of,” John Della Volpe, the institute’s polling director, said today on a conference call. “They think quality will decrease, that prices will increase, so it’s not surprising that has taken a significant hit to the president’s approval rating.”

Youth Summit

The survey underscores the challenge as Obama, 52, and his surrogates mount a three-week offensive to try to highlight the 2010 law’s benefits. The president will speak today at a White House “Youth Summit” that aims to “help get the word out to young Americans about how to enroll” in the program, according to an administration statement.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-04/youth-break-with-president-on-obamacare-support-in-poll.html

[Mass]

1. 4 out of 10 think their coverage will be worse. Really? Seems there is a real problem of

communication there concerning the White House, because a number of these people have no coverage at all, so, while I am not thrilled by ACA, how can something be worse than nothing?

In addition, other polls published recently show that young people support the bill and do not want it to be repealed.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/photo/what-to-do-about-obamacare-20131118

http://t.co/sWLozxWCEj

http://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/11/19/National-Politics/Polling/question_12492.xml?uuid=tciwvlDXEeOe5iWACG2CVA

[geek tragedy]

3. most of the population is pretty low information, regardless of age group nt

[Bandit]

4. How many young people do you know that have insurance?

If they are not already on their parents policy, I doubt many have insurance. They are indestructable you know. They don't see any need for insurance until they get old, you know in their thirties.

[geek tragedy]

2. Prices tend to increase when mom and dad stop paying for stuff,

On the positive side, this group doesn't really vote anyways, so the political damage is minimal.

This is why the mandate is necessary.

[Downtown Hound]

5. Whatever. Give it six or seven months and people will be singing a different tune

The problem with Obamacare isn't its damn website. It's simply that most people still don't understand it. Once they do, I find that support for it goes up considerably. The lack of support is due to non-stop media and Republican bashing and the simple fact that many Americans, and especially young people, still don't have a clue how the law really works.