In this Axios column, Drew Altman discusses how public opinion seems to flip on eliminating the individual mandate as part of the tax legislation, from for it to against, when the public considers the consequences.

This month marks the start of the ACA’s fifth open enrollment period and finds three in ten of the public saying they haven’t heard anything at all about the current open enrollment period. Despite their overall views of the ACA, the majority of the public (61 percent) – including most Democrats (71 percent), independents (58 percent), and half of Republicans (52 percent) – say that because President Trump and Republicans in Congress are now in control of the government, they are responsible for any problems with the health care law moving forward. This month’s tracking poll also examines public support for two variations of a Medicare buy-in proposal.

Majorities of Democrats, Independents and Republicans Would Support Allowing People Younger Than Age 65 to Buy into Medicare Half (50%) of the public would say that if fewer people sign up for marketplace plans during this year’s open enrollment, it is mainly due to the Trump Administration, and most Americans…

Most of the Public Initially Favors Getting Rid of the ACA’s Individual Mandate As Part of Tax Reform, But Some Become Opponents When Presented with Facts and Arguments for Keeping the Mandate As the House prepares to vote Thursday on its tax reform bill, a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll…

As Republicans in Congress continue efforts to pass tax reform, the November Kaiser Health Tracking Poll examines views of the plans and how they relate to health care issues. Overall, reforming the tax code is seen as a “top priority” for President Trump and Congress by about three in ten (28 percent), falling well-behind several health care issues such as reauthorizing funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (62 percent) and stabilizing the ACA marketplaces (48 percent). In addition, the majority of the public (55 percent) support the idea of eliminating the requirement for all Americans to have health insurance or else pay a fine as part of the Republican tax plan, however views vary party. In contrast, the majority of the public (68 percent), including majorities across parties, oppose eliminating the tax deduction for individuals who have high health care costs. The poll also takes an early look at the public’s views of the potential consequence of Congress not passing tax reform or repealing the ACA before the 2018 midterms.

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.

This Drew Altman Axios column describes the scale of the problems in the ACA marketplaces and the public’s confusion about whether they are impacted. He says that the news media, experts and policy makers can do more to put the marketplace problems and fixes in context as debate evolves.

Knowledge and Awareness of Key Facts Regarding Enrollment Is Low As the Nov. 1 start of the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment period nears, new polling data from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that most potential enrollees are unaware of when they can enroll and have not seen any related…

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.

In an Axios column, Drew Altman discusses how the public “scores” major health proposals like Graham-Cassidy or single payer, and proposes a “Medical Bills Score” for health.