More consumers say the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is hurting their families rather than helping them, according to a new poll. And the majority believe the law will have a negative impact on the country in the long run.
Gallup found that 27 percent said PPACA has been harmful, up from 19 percent who said so at the beginning of the year, when some of PPACA's major provisions went into effect. Meanwhile, 16 percent said it has helped, and 54 percent said the law has had no effect on them, down from around 70 percent the last two years.
Only 4 percent of Republicans said the law has helped them, compared to 27 percent of Democrats.
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"Attitudes toward the Affordable Care Act remain sharply divided along party lines," Gallup researchers reported. "Democrats are much more likely than Republicans and independents to say the law has helped them, and Republicans are much more likely to say it has hurt them. Similar percentages of Americans from all three partisan groups say the law has had no effect."
Still, the 15 percent of Democrats who say the law has hurt them is up from 6 percent in May.
Consumers expect more negative effects from the law in the future. According to the poll, 46 percent say PPACA will make things worse in the long run, while 36 percent say it will make things better and 15 percent say it will not make much difference.
Gallup numbers put the nation's uninsured rate at 13.4 percent, the lowest on record, and largely attributable to PPACA. Still, that progress hasn't eased negative perceptions about the massive health care law.
"Even though the health care law appears to have lowered the U.S. uninsured rate, Americans' views toward the law overall and its effect on the U.S. health care situation in the long run continue to be more negative than positive," Gallup said. "Views may change as more Americans gain insurance through the 2014 open enrollment period, which begins Nov. 15."
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