Health care reform: understanding individuals' attitudes and information sources

Since passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law by President Barrack Obama, little is known about state-level perceptions of residents on the ACA. Perceptions about the act could potentially affect implementation of the law to the fullest extent. This 3-year survey study explored attitudes about the ACA, the types of information sources that individuals rely on when creating those attitudes, and the predictors of these attitudes among state of Indiana residents. The respondents were split between favorable and unfavorable views of the ACA, yet the majority of respondents strongly supported individual components of the act. National TV news, websites, family members, and individuals' own reading of the ACA legislation were identified as the most influential information sources. After controlling for potential confounders, the respondent's political affiliation, age, sex, and obtaining ACA information from watching national television news were the most important predictors of attitudes about the ACA and its components. These results mirror national-level findings. Implications for implementing health care reform at the state-level are discussed.