KFF Health Security Watch Delaying Health Care to Avoid Cost Common June 11, 2012 Perspective While economic challenges facing the country continue and the Supreme Court is deciding the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), May’s Health Tracking Poll finds that the problems and concerns related to health care costs and access are wide-spread. A quarter report they have had problems paying medical bills in…
Pulling it Together: Duals: The National Health Reform Experiment We Should Be talking More About June 1, 2012 Perspective The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and 26 states are moving to launch a large scale managed care demonstration project potentially involving millions of the poorest, sickest, most expensive Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, the so-called dual eligibles. The experiment is getting more and more attention from policy experts,…
May Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Four in Ten Say Children and Young Adults Will Be Better Off May 31, 2012 Perspective While supporters and opponents of the Affordable Care Act wait for the Supreme Court to announce their decision, support for the law dipped slightly in May, with unfavorable views now outnumbering favorable ones (44 percent versus 37 percent). As in previous months, the public remains divided on whether the law…
Pulling it Together: What We Know about Making the Case to the Public for Global Health May 3, 2012 Perspective Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who is a member of our Board, recently published a column making the case very effectively for continued investments in global health. Today we released our latest national survey on attitudes towards global health, which uncovered important nuances about the argument for foreign aid…
Public Opinion on Gender Rating May 2, 2012 Perspective With the Republican presidential primaries wrapping up, a barrage of new television commercials, radio ads, and fundraising emails has marked the start of the general election campaign. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be a mainstay election topic for candidates from both major parties. While Republicans focus on advocating…
April Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Core Views on ACA Remain Stable After Oral Arguments April 24, 2012 Perspective The increased public attention to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) generated by the Supreme Court’s consideration of the law did not meaningfully change the public’s opinion of the law overall or of the specific provision at the heart of the legal case against it, the individual mandate. Forty-two percent say…
Pulling It Together: The Falloff in Utilization: “There’s Something Happening, Here, What It Is Ain’t Exactly Clear” April 10, 2012 Perspective For as long as I have been in the field, we have seen cycles in health care costs. Per capita health spending would rise, then moderate, then rise gain. My colleague Larry Levitt and I documented this in The Sad History of Health Care Costs and my friend Dr. Jim Mongan…
KFF Data Note: A Snapshot of Public Opinion on the Individual Mandate March 27, 2012 Perspective This week, the Supreme Court hears arguments on several challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the provision that requires individuals to purchase health insurance as of 2014, known as the individual mandate. For the two years since the law’s passage, and during the debate leading…
KFF Data Note: Americans’ Views on the Personal Impact of the ACA and the Supreme Court’s Decision March 26, 2012 Perspective As the Supreme Court hears cases challenging the constitutionality of parts of the Affordable Care Act, a relatively small share of the public thinks the Supreme Court’s decision will have a lot of impact on their family (28 percent). At the same time, the public is divided as to whether…
The Individual Mandate: How Sweeping? March 21, 2012 Perspective The so-called “individual mandate” – the provision under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires most individuals to carry a minimum level of insurance coverage and is now being considered by the Supreme Court – has emerged as the least popular element of the reform law and the prime target for…