Small Area Variations and the ACA’s Coverage Expansions March 6, 2012 Perspective A new Kaiser analysis sheds light on how the country might react to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) when it is implemented. It looks at how the benefits of the ACA’s coverage expansions will vary around the country by census areas (technically, Public Use Microdata Areas, or PUMAs). PUMAs are…
Pulling it Together: The Most Popular Provision in the ACA? November 29, 2011 Perspective In our most recent monthly tracking poll, we asked the American people what elements of the health reform law they like and dislike. Surprisingly, the runaway favorite was a relatively obscure requirement that health plans provide consumers with a short, easy to understand description of their benefits and coverage. Sixty…
Pulling it Together: How the ACA Can Help The Homeless September 21, 2012 Perspective Estimates are that there are approximately 630,000 people who are homeless on any given night in the U.S. — about two-thirds in shelters and one-third on the street or without real shelter. Several million people are estimated to experience homelessness over the course of a year. About two-thirds are individuals and the…
December Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Public Again Divided on ACA, Independents Polarized, and Exchanges Widely Popular December 21, 2011 Perspective According to the December Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, the October downturn in the share of Americans with a favorable view of the health reform law has been fully reversed in December and overall opinion on the law returned to the roughly even split seen for most of 2011. Forty-three percent…
July Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Public Still Divided on ACA, Few Believe the Law Will Improve Consumer Protections July 28, 2011 Perspective Overall public opinion on the health reform law remains unchanged this month, with 42 percent of Americans holding a favorable view and 43 percent an unfavorable view. Even though previous Health Tracking polls have consistently shown that consumer protections were one of the least controversial and most widely supported provisions…
Kaiser November Health Tracking Poll: Individual Elements of the ACA Popular with the Public November 29, 2011 Perspective After taking a negative turn in October, the public’s overall views on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) returned to a more mixed status this month. Still, Americans remain somewhat more likely to have an unfavorable view of the law (44 percent) than a favorable one (37 percent).…
Private Insurance Benefits and Cost-Sharing Under the ACA February 28, 2012 Perspective The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released guidance on the two key components that determine the level of protection that private insurance plans will provide to consumers under health reform. The first involves the services that insurance plans must cover, and the second involves how much patients…
January 2012 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: The ACA and the Supreme Court January 26, 2012 Perspective As the Supreme Court prepares to hear legal challenges to the health reform law in March, the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll shows that most Americans (59 percent) expect the Justices to base their ruling on their own ideological views rather than their interpretation of the law (28 percent). As for…
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…
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…