Poll: only one in eight Americans knew Obamacare signup starts today - Los Angeles Times
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Poll: Only 1 in 8 Americans know Obamacare sign-up starts today

Lizzeth Henao Rosales, left, of Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, speaks with Carlos Spivey at the L.A. Power Festival in South Los Angeles. Spivey came to the festival to find out more about Obamacare. A recent poll suggests most Americans still have many questions.
(Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
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Starting today, millions in California and nationwide can start signing up for health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.

But a recent poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that just 1 in 8 Americans knew that today was the first day to sign up to buy health insurance from newly created exchanges.

The exchanges are government-run marketplaces where consumers can access competing insurance plans from a host of companies.

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Full coverage: Obamacare rolls out

Open enrollment begins today and will last for six months.

Covered California is the name of the state’s insurance exchange.

Perhaps even worse for those hoping for a strong, smooth rollout, the poll found that “public awareness of many of the law’s key provisions has not increased since 2010.”

Moreover, 51% of those polled overall and 67% of those currently uninsured said they still did not have enough information about the Affordable Care Act to know how it will effect their families.

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The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll was conducted by telephone Sept. 12-18, the Foundation said.

It included 1,503 adults ages 18 to 64. The poll was conducted nationwide and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3%, the Foundation said.

Among the biggest gripes of those polled: There was no single definitive source they could turn to for complete information.

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People “want more information about how much the law will cost them and how it is paid for; and they want an easily digestible summary of what the law is and how it works,” the Foundation report said.

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