REUTERS

Uninsured Americans have soured on the Affordable Care Act in the past three months – and that bodes ill for the law’s popularity and financial underpinnings.

Less than a quarter—24%—of uninsured Americans think the health care law is a good idea, and half think it’s a bad idea, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Wednesday. That’s an 11-point dive in support from three months ago, when a September poll — before the troubled rollout of the HealthCare.gov marketplace –found that 35% of the uninsured thought it was a good idea, and 32% thought it was a bad idea.

The law’s success depends on a balance of old, sick individuals and young, healthy ones. Should the people who are currently uninsured because they rarely require treatment not enroll in the new health care exchanges, insurers will be left with older, sicker patients who will drive up costs…