Effectiveness of the PPACA
Over a year after the bill was signed into law,
Americans are still confused and skeptical about the
PPACA. In a public opinion survey by the Kaiser
Family Foundation, 52% of the population says that
314 Journal of Medical Marketing 11(4)
they are not sufficiently informed about the act to
make a decision as to whether it will benefit them.
Of those with annual household incomes of less than
$40,000, only 38% of people believe they know how
the bill will personally affect them. Additionally, 6 in
10 uninsured people – another primary target market
for the PPACA – do not know how this bill will affect
them.18
Furthermore, both supporters and critics are having
a hard time swaying the public either way as to the
eventual success of the bill. Opposition is nearly completely
drawn along party lines with 82% of
Republicans opposing the bill and 71% of
Democrats supporting it. Additionally, with the exception
of the personal mandate requiring all individuals
without insurance to pay a fine, which a high percentage
of people would like to see repealed, there is no
majority support on the individual provisions or on the
bill as a whole, even along party lines. For example,
Republicans are split as to whether the act should be
repealed altogether, undergo extensive amendments,
or be appealed and replaced with a version found suitable
by Republicans.18
The PPACA has sparked interest and controversy
among Americans in regards to the bill’s provisions.
This study explores the perceptions of college students
regarding their views of the PPACA. This population
is of particular interest because it is expected that premiums
will rise for young adults with the advent of
health exchanges.14 Thus, this is a group that is
likely to be adversely impacted economically by the
new law compared with the amount they currently
pay for insurance premiums. In addition, this study
seeks to explore college students’ views regarding the
marketing of the PPACA, as the need to market the
new law has been identified as a key to its success in
that Americans must feel a shared stake for it to
succeed.1