Strong state majority has negative view of Affordable Care Act

The 2014 Louisiana Survey finds that the majority of Louisiana residents have negative views of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, in regard to cost, quality and overall opinion. Only 12 percent of residents said their family is “better off” under the Act. The Louisiana Survey is conducted annually by the Public Policy Research Lab, or PPRL, and sponsored by the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs in the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication.
Nearly 3 out of 5 (58 percent) Louisiana residents reported an unfavorable view of the Affordable Care Act, while 31 percent have a favorable view, and 11 percent don’t know or are unsure. When broken down by race, 57 percent of African-American respondents had a favorable view of the ACA compared to just 19 percent of white respondents. Political party affiliation also showed a significant degree of disagreement. Fifty-four percent of Democrats had a favorable view of the ACA compared to just 10 percent of Republicans and 21 percent of Independents.
“State-wide, we know that fewer than 50,000 Louisiana residents have signed up for a private plan through the Affordable Care Act, so many of these findings are in line with the program’s popularity in the state,” said Amy Reynolds, director of the Reilly Center and associate dean of graduate studies at the Manship School.
Two out of five (39 percent) Louisiana residents even believed the ACA will reduce the overall quality of health care while only 14 percent of residents believed it will improve quality. Additionally, more than 1 out of 2 (55 percent) residents believed the ACA will make their health care insurance more expensive. Only 7 percent believed it will make their health insurance less expensive, and 1 in 3 residents (33 percent) believed it won’t make much difference.
Twelve percent of Louisiana residents said their family is “better off” under the ACA and nearly 1 in 3 residents (30 percent) said their family is “worse off” under the ACA. However, more than 1 in 2 residents (55 percent) said the ACA “hasn’t made much difference.”