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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 slideshow draws on findings from a recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll to provide an in-depth look at public opinion on women's health and preventive care. Results include Americans' awareness and attitudes toward Affordable Care Act provisions for women's health and preventive care, as well as the public's views toward federal funding for Planned Parenthood and reproductive health care for lower income women.
On the seventh anniversary of the passing of the Affordable Care Act, this Data Note highlights five of the most common misconceptions surrounding the 2010 health care law.
The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll examines the public’s early attitudes towards the House Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and finds that more expect the new plan will make things worse rather than better when it comes to the number of people with coverage and costs for those buying insurance on their own. The survey also measures public support for continuing current federal Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, gauges the importance of various ACA provisions for women’s and children’s health, and revisits the public's knowledge on key provisions included in the health care law.
The Kaiser Health Policy News Index is designed to help journalists and policymakers better understand which health policy-related news stories Americans are following, and what the public knows about health policy issues covered in the news. This analysis examines the top health policy news stories in 2016.
This Kaiser Family Foundation/New York Times survey explores the attitudes of Chicago residents on the political, economic, and social issues confronting their city. It probes deeply into the views and experiences of Chicago’s Black, White, and Hispanic residents, including issues of crime and policing, race relations, and life in Chicago’s neighborhoods.
The March Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that health care is one of many issues that will be important to voters in the Presidential election, trailing concerns about the economy and jobs but leading concerns about immigration. Health care ranks higher for Democratic voters than for Republican and independent voters and is a higher priority for women than for men. Health care costs remain on the forefront of the minds of both the uninsured and voters, with nearly half of uninsured Americans saying that cost is the main reason they haven’t gotten health insurance and voters mentioning cost when asked what specifically about health care will affect their presidential vote. In light of the two women’s health cases before the Supreme Court, this month’s survey examines how the public, and women specifically, feel about the state of women’s reproductive health policy. About one-third of Americans say ‘there is a wide-scale effort to limit women’s reproductive health choices and services, such as abortion, family planning, and contraception’ and a majority of Democratic voters name Hillary Clinton as the candidate for president they trust to represent their view of women’s reproductive health choices and services, while Republican voters don’t coalesce around any one candidate.
As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services prepares to finalize a plan to pay physicians for discussing end-of-life treatment options with Medicare patients, this month’s Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that about 8 in 10 of the public favors Medicare and private insurance covering such discussions and about 9 in 10 say doctors should have these discussions with their patients. However, relatively few (17 percent) say they’ve had such discussions with a doctor or other health care provider, while half of the public says they would want to have such a discussion. Overall, opinion of the health care law has remained divided with similar shares reporting favorable views (41 percent) and unfavorable views (45 percent), with opinion starkly divided by party. The Kaiser Health Policy News Index also finds that the 2016 presidential election is the most widely followed news story included in this month’s Index, placing far ahead of health policy news stories.
With renewed discussion of the high cost of prescription drugs recently, the August Kaiser Health Tracking poll finds that most Americans feel that drug costs are unreasonable and that drug companies put profits before people. At the same time, the public largely values the role prescription drug companies play, with most saying that prescription drugs developed in the past two decades have made the lives of people in the U.S. better, including about 4 in 10 who say a lot better. When it comes to their views of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) this month, the American public remains divided in their opinion of the law. Those who favor repeal are divided on whether the law should be replaced with a Republican-sponsored alternative or if it should be repealed and not replaced
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