Health Reform

The Kaiser Family Foundation’s Health Tracking Poll from October 2017 asked the public of their views of a national health plan, and whether they favor or oppose the implementation of such a program. While about half of the public favors having a national health plan, there is a strong partisan divide with the majority of Republicans strongly opposing such a plan and nearly half of Democrats strongly favoring the plan. This poll also asked the public about their perceptions of the impact of a national health plan, and what they believe would be the best and worse thing about the plan.

The start of the open enrollment period for non-group insurance in 2018 is less than one month away, and the majority of individuals who are targets for enrollment – those who currently purchase their own insurance and those who are uninsured – are unaware of the key dates of the next open enrollment period. This report, focusing on enrollees in the non-group market, compares the experiences of individuals who purchase their own insurance through an ACA marketplace with the current health insurance market to those who get their insurance through their employer. Overall, the experiences of marketplace enrollees are more similar than different than those with employer coverage when it comes to costs and choices. However, marketplace enrollees are more likely to express worry about their future ability to afford insurance and health care services.

The October Kaiser Health Tracking Poll focuses on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) marketplaces as the November 1st open enrollment period approaches, amidst a period of uncertainty on the future of the individual market. The survey finds the majority of the public think it is more important for President Trump and Congress to work on legislation to stabilize the marketplaces rather than continue efforts to repeal and replace the ACA. A majority – across parties – also support a bipartisan compromise that includes Congress guaranteeing cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurance companies.

This poll finds large majorities across all parties say reauthorizing funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is an important priority for Congress; however, a larger share of Republicans also say it is important for Congress to work on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). This month’s Kaiser Health Tracking Poll also examines public support for a variety of competing health care policies aimed at improving or replacing the 2010 health care law, including single-payer.

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, Kaiser Family Foundation polling has found the public divided in their overall views of the law. At the same time, an intensity gap in opinion has existed since 2010, with the share of the public holding strongly unfavorable views of the law outnumbering the share with strongly favorable views. A new analysis of Kaiser Family Foundation polling data finds that intensity gap began to close in spring 2017. The share with a “very favorable” view is now roughly equal to the share with a “very unfavorable” view.

Following the U.S. Senate’s failed vote on the “skinny repeal”, the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that the majority of the public say it is a “good thing” that the Senate did not pass the bill that would have repealed and replaced the ACA. A large share of Americans think President Trump and his administration should do what they can to make the current health care law work and a majority of the public want to see bipartisan efforts to improve the 2010 health care law. However, about half of Republicans and Trump supporters would like to see Republicans in Congress keep working on a plan to repeal the ACA, and most Republicans and Trump supporters endorse using hard-ball tactics to encourage Democrats to start negotiating with President Trump on a replacement plan. The majority of the public are also unaware that health insurance companies choosing not to sell insurance plans or charging higher premiums in certain marketplaces only affect those who purchase their own insurance on these marketplaces.

As the U.S. Senate continues to debate their plan to repeal and replace the ACA, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll finds the public souring on the effort with a growing majority opposed to the plan and a large share that say the plan does not fulfill most of the promises President Trump has made about health care. Even among Republicans, the poll finds that about half would be “less likely” to support the Senate health plan if they heard it would increase premiums for most people who purchase their own insurance on the marketplace. In addition, a majority of the public would rather see Republicans in Congress work with Democrats to make improvements to the ACA but not repeal the law. The tracking poll also gauges the public’s views on the proposed major reductions in federal funding for Medicaid as well as how these views are affected by counter-arguments.

The latest Kaiser Health Tracking poll finds that while there has been a modest increase in the public’s level of support for single-payer in recent years, a substantial share of the public remains opposed to such a plan, and opinions are quite malleable when presented with the types of arguments that would be likely to arise during a national debate.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers to cover the full cost of prescription birth control as part of their health insurance plans. The June Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that a majority of the public support the requirement for private health insurance plans to cover the full cost of birth control. This includes a majority of Democrats, independents, and Republicans.

As the Senate prepares to vote on the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and limit federal Medicaid funding, a new Kaiser Family Foundation Tracking Poll finds the Affordable Care Act itself remains far more popular than the bill that would replace it. A majority of Republicans, however, continue to support the Republican plan, though by a significantly narrower margin than last month. Furthermore, the Tracking Poll finds that the most of the public – regardless of partisanship – holds favorable views of Medicaid.