Poll: Uninsured Still Rate Exchange Experience Negatively

January 2, 2014 U.S.

Uninsured Still Rate Exchange Experience Negatively 
Twenty-six percent of uninsured Americans have visited an exchange website
by Jeffrey M. Jones

PRINCETON, NJ -- Uninsured Americans who have visited a health insurance exchange website mostly say their experience was negative rather than positive, by 59% to 39%. That reading, from Gallup Daily tracking throughout December, is only a slight improvement from Gallup's combined October and November polling, when 63% reported a negative experience and 33% a positive one.

The latest figures are based on Dec. 1-29 Gallup Daily tracking interviews with more than 1,500 uninsured Americans, including roughly 450 who have visited a health insurance exchange website. Since the exchanges opened on Oct. 1, the federally run websites have been plagued by technical problems, while the state-run exchanges have reportedly performed better. Among uninsured Americans who have visited an exchange, 24% say they went to a federal exchange, 20% to a state exchange, 17% to both, and 37% are unsure.  (Continues at Gallup)