Healthcare policies offered through the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) exchanges have been in effect for nearly a year. So how satisfied are the people who have them?

Today Gallup released results of a poll that indicates, “Over seven in 10 Americans who bought new health insurance policies through the government exchanges earlier this year rate the quality of their healthcare and their healthcare coverage as ‘excellent’ or ‘good.’ These positive evaluations are generally similar to the reviews that all insured Americans give to their health insurance.”

Also, “In addition to newly insured Americans rating their coverage and the quality of their healthcare positively, they are more satisfied than the average insured American with the cost of their health coverage.” Most plan to renew their policies.

For more on this, see this piece by Jonathan Cohn for The New Republic. As he points out, a survey by The Commonwealth Fund last summer found similarly positive reactions.

The sign-up period this year begins today and is a bit narrower than last; see Healthcare.gov for details. Even if you’re reasonably happy with your current coverage, it doesn’t hurt to compare it with what’s now available. In most places the premiums are very similar to last year’s, and that’s even more likely if you qualify for a tax credit, which most people do.

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