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This month's Health Policy News Index finds more than six in 10 say they followed
news about long waiting lists for those seeking care at Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities closely.
That makes the VA story the most closely followed health story in the first half of 2014, with slightly
more people following it than followed several ACA enrollment stories earlier this year.
One of the most politically polarizing elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the law’s requirement that new private health insurance plans cover prescription contraceptives and services, including all methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The Kaiser Health Policy News Index is designed to help journalists and policymakers understand which health policy-related news stories Americans are paying attention to, and what the public understands about health policy issues covered in the news. This month’s Index finds that news about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment numbers was followed by more than half the public, ranking behind two non-health news stories (the kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls and the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia).
More than four years after the Affordable Care Act's enactment and more than a month after the close of open enrollment, six in 10 Americans say the health reform law has not had an impact on them or their families, Kaiser’s May Tracking Poll finds. Among those who say it has, Republicans are much more likely to say their families have been hurt by the law than helped, while Democrats are more likely to say their families have been helped than hurt.
Despite the news that 8 million people have signed up for health insurance through the ACA’s new marketplaces, the April Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds no change in overall opinion of the law since last month . The most common reason for remaining uninsured is not being able to find an affordable plan. Also, a majority of the public supports the ACA’s requirement that private health insurance plans cover the full cost of birth control and believes that for-profit companies should be subject to this requirement even if their owners object to birth control on religious grounds.
The Kaiser Health Policy News Index is designed to help journalists and policymakers understand which health policy-related news stories Americans are paying attention to, and what the public understands about health policy issues covered in the news. This month’s Index finds that the public followed the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, the shooting at the Fort Hood army post, and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, more closely than any health policy news stories. Among health policy news, the most closely-followed story was coverage of how many people have enrolled in health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which just over half the public reports following “very” or “fairly” closely.
With the end of the initial open enrollment period for new insurance options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), The New York Times Upshot/Kaiser Family Foundation Polls In Four Southern States examines public opinion on the health care law and the upcoming midterm election in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and North Carolina.
This partnership poll from The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation explores the views and experiences of adults who served in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars as members of the U.S. military in the period after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The majority of veterans of these conflicts say that Americans appreciate their service and that gestures of support are genuine, but many report a number of challenges, including economic struggles, worse physical and mental health than prior to their engagement, and feeling disconnected from civilian life.
The Kaiser Health Policy News Index is designed to help journalists and policymakers understand which health policy-related news stories Americans are paying attention to, and what the public understands about health policy issues covered in the news. This month’s Index finds that the public followed the missing Malaysia Airlines flight and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia more closely than news about ACA enrollment. Additionally, many Americans remain unaware of the status of Medicaid expansion in their own states.
The March Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that the gap between unfavorable and favorable opinions of the ACA narrowed this month among the public and the uninsured, and more want Congress to improve the law than replace it. The survey also finds that six in ten of the uninsured are unaware of the March 31 deadline to sign up for coverage, and half say they plan to remain uninsured.
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