Enrollment rush fails to boost ObamaCare

The Obama administration has been touting the last-minute enrollment surge for the healthcare law, but that success hasn’t boosted its popularity with voters, according to two new polls.

{mosads}A Gallup survey released on Friday found that 54 percent disapprove of ObamaCare, compared to 43 percent who approve. That’s in line with Gallup’s polling on the law since last November.

Gallup interviewed 1,009 adults for the poll on April 7–8, so the administration’s announcement earlier about a week before that more than 7 million had enrolled in ObamaCare had time to sink in.

Similarly, a poll conducted by The Morning Consult of 1,009 likely voters on April 3–6 found that 51 percent disapprove of the law and 43 percent approve. That’s almost unchanged from the same poll in March.

“Americans continue to evaluate the Affordable Care Act negatively, and their basic opinions of the law have been fairly stable over the past year,” Gallup wrote. “That may suggest Americans have already made up their mind about the law, for the most part reflecting their underlying political orientation, and the law’s implementation is not going to influence how they feel about the law.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on Thursday that more than 7.5 million had selected a plan under ObamaCare in the first open enrollment period. That’s better than the Congressional Budget Office’s forecast of 7 million, and an impressive feat considering the broken website essentially shaved two months off the enrollment period.

Sebelius announced Friday that she’d be resigning from the president’s Cabinet.

Democrats and the Obama administration hope all of the bad news surrounding the botched rollout will blow over before the 2014 midterm elections.