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…
Health Insurance Transparency under the Affordable Care Act March 8, 2012 Perspective In February, a final rule was issued implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that all health plans provide a uniform summary of coverage for all enrollees and applicants. The idea of providing easy-to-understand summaries of coverage is, in fact, the most popular provision in the ACA, according to a recent Kaiser…
Public Opinion on the ACA: Cruising or Turbulent Ride? March 15, 2012 Perspective Regular readers of the Kaiser Health Tracking poll know by now that public opinion on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been at a steady cruising altitude since it was signed into law on March 23, 2010, with a little over four in ten viewing the law favorably and a…
March Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: The ACA at Two Years; The Individual Mandate and the Supreme Court March 14, 2012 Perspective As the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) nears its second birthday, the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that public opinion on the law remains evenly split (41 percent favorable, 40 percent unfavorable) with sharp divisions along partisan lines, much as it has been since the law was passed.…
Kaiser Poll: Early Reaction to Supreme Court Decision on ACA July 2, 2012 Perspective Following last week’s Supreme Court’s decision upholding the heart of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a majority of Americans (56 percent) now say they would like to see the law’s detractors stop their efforts to block its implementation and move on to other national problems. In the first of two…
Kaiser Survey Probes Health Insurance Brokers’ Views on Insurance Trends, ACA June 15, 2012 Perspective A new nationally representative survey of 500 health insurance agents and brokers working in the individual and small group markets by the Kaiser Family Foundation explores their outlook on market trends and views on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The survey finds that many agents are seeing steep increases in premiums…
How the ACA Changes Pathways to Insurance Coverage for People with HIV September 18, 2012 Perspective There are multiple sources of insurance coverage and care for people with HIV in the United States. These include public programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare, and the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, as well as private coverage through an employer or in the individual market. Medicaid, the nation’s principal safety-net…
The ACA and Fluoridation: The Power of Political Symbols March 14, 2012 Perspective In the 1950s, water fluoridation became a public health controversy that morphed into a symbolic issue of larger proportions. For its opponents, fluoridation came to symbolize big government and even for some, a communist threat. The controversy became so odd that it was parodied in Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film “Dr.…
Can We Learn From ACA Implementation and Improve the Law? May 7, 2013 Perspective Senator Baucus made headlines recently when he predicted a “train wreck” for Obamacare. David Brooks predicted “chaos” in a recent column. In a news conference, the President offered a different perspective. “There’ll still be, you know, glitches and bumps…. That’s pretty much true of every government program that’s ever been…