New CBS News/NYT Poll: Opinion Of Obamacare Still Largely Negative
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Only five shopping days left … no, not for Christmas, but for Obamacare.
Even though some of the website's flaws have been fixed, impressions of the law remain negative, even among those it was designed to help. As CBS 2's Marcia Kramer reported Wednesday, a poll shows the uninsured remain skeptical.
Beverly Cena of Middletown, N.J., and her husband are uninsured, and they'll remain that way. After numerous frustrating failures on the Obamacare website Cena said she discovered the cheapest plan for a family of three costs a little more than $400 a month.
She said that's a no-go for her.
"I'd rather pay the fine than spend a lot of money and have a healthcare plan that really isn't going to do much for me," Cena said.
Many of the uninsured -- the very people Obamacare was designed to help -- apparently feel the same way. A new CBS News-New York Times poll of Americans with and without health insurance found that more than one third – 34 percent -- believe the law will hurt them personally; 16 percent say it will help them; 46 percent say it will have no effect.
In the country at large, there is optimism mixed with negativity about the Affordable Care Act.
Nearly 1 in 4 of the uninsured said the law would hurt them even though they currently have no coverage at all. One in 3 said it would help
The uninsured are equally divided on whether Obamacare will make the health system better or worse:
* 39 percent said the healthcare system would be worse
* 36 percent said better
* 21 percent said nothing will change
Cena said she wants the law to work and blames Congress for its flaws. She said she hopes more families fare better than hers.
"I really think that the new law they have is going to help a little bit more than hurt," she said.
Cena said she would like a plan that covers only catastrophic healthcare costs, but at 56 is too old to qualify.
The deadline for enrollment is Dec. 23. Coverage begins Jan. 1.
The White House said it hopes reception of the law will improve as the uninsured become insured.
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