With the 2018 midterm elections still about ten months away, the January Kaiser Health Tracking poll examines what issues voters most want 2018 midterm candidates to talk about during their upcoming campaigns. Health care is at the top of a group of issues but health care is less important to Republicans and among voters in battleground states. While Congress is currently debating a budget to keep the government funded beyond February 8, 2018, the poll also examines the public’s priorities for President Trump and Congress and measures support for reducing federal funding for government programs.

Only One in Three Know the Tax Reform Law Repeals the ACA’s Unpopular Individual Mandate Health care and the economy and jobs top voters’ list as “the most important issue” for Congressional candidates to talk about ahead of November’s midterm elections, but the lineup shifts among voters in states and…

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…

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.

Majorities Support Buy-In Ideas for Medicaid and Medicare Among health priorities facing urgent deadlines in Washington in September, the public ranks repeal of the Affordable Care Act lower than reauthorizing funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and stabilizing individual health insurance marketplaces established by the ACA, the Kaiser…

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.

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.