Poll: Ohioans poorly informed about ACA

Ohio Health Poll information

CINCINNATI — In early 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed by Congress and signed into law. Provisions of this law have been going into effect on a rolling basis since that time, and open enrollment for health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace happened for the first time in the fall of 2013.

The 2014 Ohio Health Issues Poll (OHIP), funded by Interact for Health, asked adults in Ohio several questions about their understanding, opinion, and experience so far with this law.

“The poll found that about 1 in 10 Ohio adults had tried to purchase health insurance through a health insurance exchange or marketplace,” says Kate Keller, vice president, policy and external relations, Interact for Health. Adults earning less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) (13 percent) and those with less than a high school education (15 percent) were more likely to have tried using the exchanges than those with higher incomes and more education.

“Adults in Ohio continue to lag behind the nation when asked if they felt they had enough information about the health reform law to understand how it would affect them personally,” says Keller. “OHIP found that 4 in 10 Ohio adults felt they DID have enough information, while 6 in 10 felt they did not.”

This has not changed significantly since the question was last asked in May 2012. The percentage of Ohio adults who feel they understand the law remains below the 6 in 10 adults in the nation (57 percent) who do.

Over 3 in 10 Ohio adults (35 percent) report a generally favorable opinion of the health care law, similar to adults across the nation. About 6 in 10 (58 percent) Ohio adults have an unfavorable opinion, more than in the rest of the country, where 45 percent viewed the law unfavorably. Adults in southwest Ohio were more likely to favor the law than other parts of the state, with more than 4 in 10 (44 percent) reporting a favorable opinion. Adults in northwest Ohio were less likely to favor the law, with only 2 in 10 (21 percent) reporting a favorable opinion.

Among all adults in Ohio, only 7 percent responded that they did not know their impression of the health care law. This uncertainty was higher among adults age 18-29 (12 percent), adults with less than a high school education (25 percent), adults in fair or poor health (15 percent), and adults in northwest Ohio (17 percent).

OHIP asked adults with an unfavorable opinion of the law if they had this opinion because the law went “too far” or “not far enough” in changing the health care system. The majority (76 percent) felt that the law went too far, with only 2 in 10 (21 percent) feeling it did not go far enough.

Participants in OHIP were also asked whether they thought it was the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans had health care coverage. More than 5 out of 10 Ohio adults (55 percent) felt this was not the responsibility of the government, while 4 in 10 (42 percent) felt the government should be involved. Democrats, adults age 18-29, adults below 138% of the Federal Poverty Level and African American adults were all more likely to agree that the Federal Government SHOULD take responsibility for ensuring health care coverage.

More information about Ohioans’ views on the ACA and other topics is available online at www.interactforhealth.org/ohio-health-issues-poll.

About the Ohio Health Issues Poll

The 2014 Ohio Health Issues Poll (OHIP) is funded by Interact for Health. The Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati conducted the OHIP May 7-20. A random sample of 820 adults from throughout Ohio was interviewed by telephone. This included 489 landline telephone and 331 cell phone interviews. In 95 of 100 cases, the statewide estimates will be accurate to plus or minus 3.4 percent. There are other sources of variation inherent in public opinion studies, such as non-response, question wording or context effects that can introduce error or bias. For more information about the Ohio Health Issues Poll, please visit www.interactforhealth.org/ohio-health-issues-poll.