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This data note discusses the details and timing of some of the private and federal surveys that will be used to look at how coverage has changed due to the Affordable Care Act. Different surveys offer different information and insight into coverage under the ACA, and we discuss the contributions and challenges in each type of effort.
Despite the news that 8 million people have signed up for health insurance through the ACA’s new marketplaces, the April Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds no change in overall opinion of the law since last month . The most common reason for remaining uninsured is not being able to find an affordable plan. Also, a majority of the public supports the ACA’s requirement that private health insurance plans cover the full cost of birth control and believes that for-profit companies should be subject to this requirement even if their owners object to birth control on religious grounds.
The Kaiser Health Policy News Index is designed to help journalists and policymakers understand which health policy-related news stories Americans are paying attention to, and what the public understands about health policy issues covered in the news. This month’s Index finds that the public followed the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, the shooting at the Fort Hood army post, and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, more closely than any health policy news stories. Among health policy news, the most closely-followed story was coverage of how many people have enrolled in health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which just over half the public reports following “very” or “fairly” closely.
With the end of the initial open enrollment period for new insurance options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), The New York Times Upshot/Kaiser Family Foundation Polls In Four Southern States examines public opinion on the health care law and the upcoming midterm election in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and North Carolina.
This partnership poll from The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation explores the views and experiences of adults who served in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars as members of the U.S. military in the period after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The majority of veterans of these conflicts say that Americans appreciate their service and that gestures of support are genuine, but many report a number of challenges, including economic struggles, worse physical and mental health than prior to their engagement, and feeling disconnected from civilian life.
The Kaiser Health Policy News Index is designed to help journalists and policymakers understand which health policy-related news stories Americans are paying attention to, and what the public understands about health policy issues covered in the news. This month’s Index finds that the public followed the missing Malaysia Airlines flight and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia more closely than news about ACA enrollment. Additionally, many Americans remain unaware of the status of Medicaid expansion in their own states.
The March Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that the gap between unfavorable and favorable opinions of the ACA narrowed this month among the public and the uninsured, and more want Congress to improve the law than replace it. The survey also finds that six in ten of the uninsured are unaware of the March 31 deadline to sign up for coverage, and half say they plan to remain uninsured.
The Kaiser Health Policy News Index is designed to help journalists and policymakers understand which health policy-related news stories Americans are paying attention to, and what the public understands about health policy issues covered in the news. This month’s Index finds that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was the most-closely followed health policy news story this month, ranking behind news of the U.S. economy. The survey also finds that the news media is by far the public’s top source of information on the ACA, and the public believes media coverage of the law has focused more on politics and controversies than the impact on people.
The February 2014 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that those who are most likely to be customers in the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s new insurance exchanges (the uninsured and those who purchase their own coverage) are more likely to prefer less costly plans with narrow provider networks over more expensive plans with broader networks, while the public overall has the opposite preference. Overall opinion of the ACA remains about the same as it has been since November, with just under half the public viewing the law unfavorably and just over a third having a favorable view.
Based on a baseline survey of low-income Americans and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), this report, The Uninsured at the Starting Line in California, provides data on insurance coverage, barriers to care, and financial security among uninsured adults before ACA implementation in California.
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