Public Opinion and Survey Research

Despite the ongoing debate between Republican lawmakers and President Obama on the future of the 2010 health care law, the January Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is only one of many issues that may impact voting decisions. While there has been recent focus on improving the value of health care, those with insurance under 65 years old largely say the health care services they receive are at least a good value for what they pay for them. Also, in the final days of the 2016 open enrollment period, many uninsured are largely disengaged from the health care system and opportunities for coverage, with large majorities being unaware of the date for the upcoming deadline to enroll or of the fine for not having health insurance in 2016.

The Kaiser Family Foundation California Longitudinal Panel Survey is a series of surveys that, over time, tracked the experiences and views of a representative, randomly selected sample of Californians who were uninsured prior to the major coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The initial baseline survey was conducted with a representative sample of 2,001 nonelderly uninsured Californian adults in summer 2013, prior to the ACA’s initial open enrollment period. After each enrollment period concluded, a survey was conducted of the same group of previously uninsured Californians who participated in the baseline (a longitudinal panel survey). The fourth and final survey in the series, and the focus of this report, followed up with them after the third open enrollment period in spring 2016 to find out whether more have gained coverage, lost coverage, or remained uninsured, what barriers to coverage remain, how those who now have insurance view their coverage, and to assess the impacts that gaining health insurance may have had on financial security and access to care.

For Remaining Uninsured Residents, Cost and Immigration Status Are Main Obstacles Three years after the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions were fully implemented in California, nearly three quarters (72%) of the state’s previously uninsured residents now have health coverage, finds the fourth Kaiser Family Foundation Longitudinal Panel Survey, which is tracking…

The survey is the second in a series exploring the experiences and perceptions of people who purchase their own health insurance, the group perhaps most affected by the Affordable Care Act’s reforms to the individual insurance market and tax subsidies to make such coverage more affordable. It includes people in ACA-compliant plans sold both inside and outside the federal and state marketplaces, as well as those still in non-compliant plans, which took effect prior to January 2014 and in many cases do not comply with all the law’s requirements.

In the final Kaiser Health Tracking Poll before the 2014 midterm elections in November, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be just one of several issues on voters’ minds. Less than 1 in 10 registered voters identify the ACA as the most important issue to their vote, ranking behind the economy, dissatisfaction with government, education and the situation in Iraq and Syria. With the ACA’s second open enrollment period approaching, the poll also finds the uninsured are not yet tuned in. About 9 in 10 of the uninsured are unaware of when the next open enrollment period begins, two thirds say they know “only a little” or “nothing at all” about the marketplaces, and just over half are unaware of financial assistance available.

This report explores the experiences of individuals who purchase their own insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. The poll finds marketplace enrollees are worried about the future of health insurance availability and costs in their areas, but most say their premiums have not increased this year and they are satisfied with their insurance options.

Very Few Say They Would Want to Purchase a Short-Term Plan, A Regulation Being Drafted By The Trump Administration Nine in 10 enrollees in the non-group market say they intend to continue buying their own insurance even after being told that Congress has repealed the individual mandate penalty for not…

This poll examines the issues Democrats most want to hear in the debates, their trust of the Democratic candidates on health care, attitudes towards Medicare-for-all and a public option, perceptions of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces, and prospects of legislation to address prescription drug costs.

The Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation co-sponsored this briefing to have a panel of experts answer questions about how public support for health reform waxes and wanes depending, not only on what’s being proposed in the reform proposals, but also on who asks the question and…

In this research article released online by The Journal of Health Policy, Politics and Law, KFF’s Elizabeth Hamel, Alex Montero and Mollyann Brodie reflect on 30 years of public opinion data to offer perspectives on how the public accesses, evaluates, and uses health information, and what recent trends may suggest…