Kaiser Poll: Most Americans Don't Know How Obamacare Will Work

Three years after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, a majority of Americans and two-thirds of the uninsured say they still don’t know how it will affect them, according to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll.

The survey of 1,204 adults also found that overall awareness of key elements of the law known as Obamacare has declined since the law was first introduced and passed by Congress in 2010.

In addition, the survey found that the public really has no clue about decisions being made by individual states today regarding the expansion of Medicaid or the establishment of state insurance exchanges designed to help people find the coverage they need at an affordable price.

As a result, most Americans are about evenly divided on how they feel about the law, with 40 percent of survey respondents having an unfavorable view of it and 37 percent holding a favorable view.

Anticipating full implementation of the law by the end of next year, four out of 10 respondents said they do not believe Obamacare will make much difference in their lives. But 29 percent said it would have a more negative impact than positive, and only 21 percent said it would make their families better off.

The Kaiser survey also revealed that 60 percent of respondents believe healthcare costs have risen nationally, although only 34 percent said they have gone up for their own families. The foundation noted that the views expressed on costs were actually contrary to national data showing that healthcare costs have actually slowed in recent years.