Poll: People attributing most insurance problems to Obamacare

Disapproval numbers of the president’s health care law remain as high as ever, but a new Associated Press-GfK poll suggests those numbers could get even worse as Americans with employer or other private policies blame the law for cost increases or reduce coverage.

About half of people with employer-provided or other private insurance say their plans are changing. Sixty-nine percent said their premiums will increase, and 59 percent say annual deductibles or copayments are rising. Fourteen percent said coverage for their spouses will be dropped or limited, and 11 percent say their plans are being discontinued.

Twenty-one percent, on the other hand, say their plans will cover more next year for the same amount of money.

The trend of employers pushing more costs onto workers has been going on for years, but the rocky rollout of the health care law has led many people to attribute problems with the existing healthcare system to Obamacare. Nearly four in five people blame the negative changes on Obamacare.

The poll also found that independents and Republicans are more likely to say their coverage has been affected, reflecting that opinions of the law often mirror political leanings.

Fortunately for Democrats, they are still seen as having an edge over Republicans in their health care policy by a margin of 32 percent to 22 percent.

Still, the rollout has been plagued by problems. About one in 10 people say that they or someone in their household has tried to sign up for insurance, and 62 percent reported problems for either themselves or someone in their households. Only about a quarter of those who attempted to enroll were able to.

The poll was conducted Dec. 5-9 and involved online interviews with 1,367 adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.