Pop Quiz: Assessing Americans’ Familiarity with the Health Care Law

Based on the December Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, the latest KFF data note explores Americans’ awareness of what the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will do. As the 112th Congress prepared to take office and the discussion of repeal was on the rise, we ‘quizzed’ Americans on whether they thought a series of ten provisions were included in the new law, ranging from five items that are part of the law (i.e., Medicaid expansion, changes in private health insurance), to five items that popped up at times in the larger debate but are not in the ACA, such as coverage for illegal immigrants and so-called ‘death panels.’ Majorities of Americans can identify certain provisions as being part of the new health care law, but the quiz also shows smaller but still significant proportions have misperceptions about the law.