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This is an abbreviated topline for the upcoming January 2016 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. It contains the survey questions addressed in Drew Altman's column, "Candidate Policy Plans Resonate More With Democrats. Here’s Why," for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank.
The ACA’s third open enrollment will come to a close at the end of January and the December Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that only 7 percent of the uninsured correctly identify this as the deadline to enroll in coverage. With Democratic presidential candidates debating the idea of Medicare-for-all, which involves creating a national health plan in which all Americans would get their insurance through an expanded version of the Medicare program, most Democrats like the idea, but very few say the issue will drive their votes in the 2016 elections. As the U.S. Senate voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) earlier this month, more of the public views the health care law unfavorably than favorably (46 percent vs. 40 percent). In addition, the public remains divided over what Congress should do next with the law, with 35 percent supporting repeal, 14 percent supporting scaling back the law, 18 percent who say they would like to see it implemented as is, and 22 percent who say they want the law expanded.
This survey of Kentucky residents gauges their views on health care policy in the state, including their preferences for the future of the Medicaid expansion and the state-based health insurance marketplace, Kynect. Kentucky has received national attention as the only Southern state to fully embrace the Affordable Care Act, though the state elected a new governor in November 2015 who campaigned on rolling back the Medicaid expansion and ending Kynect.
As the problem of prescription painkiller abuse has captured greater attention from policymakers and the media, the November Kaiser Health Tracking Poll explores the public’s connection to and knowledge of the issue, as well as their views of how to address it. A surprising 56 percent of the public say they have some personal connection to the issue – either because they say they know someone who has taken a prescription painkiller that wasn’t prescribed to them, know someone who has been addicted, or know someone who has died from a prescription painkiller overdose. While views of the health care law have been narrowly divided for much of the year, this month more say they have an unfavorable view of the law than a favorable one. The poll also includes views of the uninsured during the third open enrollment period under the health care law.
In the last couple of years, several incidents in which African Americans were mistreated or in some cases killed by police have sparked renewed public attention to the issue of race relations in America. To better understand the current status of the issue, the Kaiser Family Foundation and CNN surveyed the U.S. public to gauge their views of race in America and personal experiences with discrimination or racism, with a focus on the views and experiences of Black and Hispanic people in America.
A decade after Hurricane Katrina hit, a 2015 Kaiser Family Foundation/NPR survey finds a racial divide in how New Orleans residents perceive the city’s recovery. African-Americans continue to lag far behind Whites, both in their views of how much progress has been made and in the rates at which they report continuing struggles.
Views of New Orleans' recovery from Hurricane Katrina varied among residents a decade after the storm hit in 2005. A Kaiser Family Foundation/NPR survey finds residents' reports of conditions in their own neighborhoods and their evaluations of the city's progress have improved steadily on many fronts. However, residents say challenges remain, particularly in the area of public safety.
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast and the subsequent levee failure led to unprecedented destruction in New Orleans, the Kaiser Family Foundation teamed up with NPR to conduct a survey of the city’s current residents. This work builds on three previous surveys conducted by the Foundation in 2006, 2008, and 2010, as well as a survey of Katrina evacuees in Houston shelters conducted in partnership with The Washington Post in September 2005. The new survey examines how those who are currently living in Orleans Parish feel about the progress the city has made and the lingering challenges it faces, including those brought about by Katrina and those that pre-date the storm.
Given recent news about some high-cost prescription drugs and the debate about who should pay for them, this month’s Kaiser Health Tracking Poll has a special focus on the issue. Nearly three-quarters of the public think that the cost of prescription drugs is unreasonable. Americans place much of the blame with the drug companies saying they set prices too high and that company profits are a major factor in drug pricing. The poll also finds that most of the public still hasn’t heard much about the Supreme Court case on whether people in states with federal marketplaces are eligible for financial assistance to purchase health insurance. Most feel that Congress and states should act if the Court rules for the plaintiffs, but there is no agreement among partisans.
The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, fielded right after the U.S. House cancelled its vote on a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), finds a majority of Americans saying it is a “good thing” that Congress did not pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA). And despite divided views about the ACA, three-fourths of the public say President Trump and his administration should do what they can to make the existing health care law work. The survey also explores who the public blames for the failure of the Republican bill and next steps for President Trump and Republicans in Congress.
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