Pulling It Together: What Conservatives Won In Health Reform (And Don’t Seem to Know It) April 13, 2011 Perspective Conservatives obviously don’t like what they call “Obamacare” because they think it expands the role of government too much and spends too much money. But ironically, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) actually promotes — though not explicitly — something that has been a fundamental objective of conservatives in health care…
A Public Opinion Surprise, The Latest “Pulling It Together, From Drew Altman” April 5, 2011 Perspective With Medicaid being the focus of federal and state debate on deficits, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s President and CEO examines recent poll findings about the program’s popularity that may be a surprise considering the current discussion.
Pulling It Together: A Public Opinion Surprise April 4, 2011 Perspective Medicaid is the nation’s primary health insurance program for low-income people and people with disabilities, covering more than 60 million people this year. And it’s about to get a lot of attention: it’s likely to be a prime target for spending reductions by “deficit hawks” in debate over the budget;…
KFF March Health Tracking Poll: One Year Later, Views on Health Reform Remain Divided March 18, 2011 Perspective Health reform is a year old and the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds a basic division that has changed little during the last 12 months. This month, 42 percent of Americans hold favorable views of the law while 46 percent view it unfavorably. In April 2010, the month after…
KFF February Health Tracking Poll: Nearly Half Confused About Status of the Health Reform Law February 24, 2011 Perspective In the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, nearly half of Americans say they are confused about the status of the health reform law. While 52 percent of the public is aware that health reform is still law, 22 percent think the law has been repealed and is no longer law…
The Budget: What Would You Cut? February 16, 2011 Perspective As President Obama and Congress begin to hash out the 2012 budget, it is a good time to revisit results from our January 2011 survey showing that in spite of the fact that most Americans report being very concerned about the budget deficit, there is little public support for major…
Pulling it Together: Forget Math and Science, Teach Civics (Or Why We Need to Bring Back Schoolhouse Rock) February 10, 2011 Perspective I am seldom surprised by our poll findings, but this month’s tracking poll produced a doozy. Twenty-two percent of the American people think the Affordable Care Act has been repealed, and another 26 percent aren’t sure. Those are surprisingly large numbers even with the 52 percent who still know it…
Pop Quiz: Assessing Americans’ Familiarity with the Health Care Law February 2, 2011 Perspective Based on the December Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, the latest KFF data note explores Americans’ awareness of what the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will do. As the 112th Congress prepared to take office and the discussion of repeal was on the rise, we ‘quizzed’ Americans on whether they thought a…
KFF/Harvard Survey on Public’s Health Care Agenda for the 112th Congress Finds An Uptick in Public Opposition to Health Reform As GOP Ramped Up Repeal Campaign January 25, 2011 Perspective Though the public remains divided on health reform overall, according to a new survey jointly conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health, opposition to the new law ticked upward in January from 41 percent to 50 percent as Republicans ramped up efforts to repeal it.…
Pulling It Together: Repeal January 6, 2011 Perspective The House will soon vote to repeal the health reform law, the Senate won’t, and the President would veto it if they did. So what does a House vote for repeal mean? It is, of course, a campaign promise kept to the political right. It is also a signal from…