国际英语新闻:Majority of uninsured Americans still rate Obamacare negatively

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Nearly six in ten of uninsured Americans who have visited a health insurance exchange website under President Barack Obama's signature healthcare overhaul in December say their experience was negative, according to a Gallup poll released on Thursday.

The latest Gallup poll found that 39 percent of uninsured Americans reported their experience with the new Obamacare health exchanges in December positive, 6 percentage points up from October and November, while 59 percent reported their experience negative

Twenty-nine percent say they had a "very negative experience" while only 7 percent reported a "very positive" experience.

Currently, 26 percent of uninsured Americans say they have visited a health insurance exchange website, up from 20 percent in October and November polling.

Among those who have visited a health insurance exchange, 24 percent say they went to a federal exchange while 20 percent to a state exchange, 17 percent to both and 37 percent are unsure.

Since the exchanges opened on Oct. 1, the federally-run website serving 36 states has been plagued with technical problems and under strong criticism, while the state-run websites have reported performed better and received better reviews.

At the beginning of December, the Obama administration said they had met their self-imposed deadline of Nov. 30 for the federally-run website to be fixed and could handle the majority of users.

While customers should buy insurance by Christmas for coverage beginning from Jan. 1, the deadline for the uninsured Americans to enroll in coverage to avoid a fine comes at the end of March.