May 11, 2012
The POLITICO-George Washington University
Battleground Poll asks registered voters who they think is better able to handle health care, if the 2010 law should be repealed and if it went too far. They also have voters identify what issue they think is most important for Congress to consider.
The
Washington Post asks Virginians how important health care will be in their vote for U. S. Senate this year.
Registered voters weigh in on which presidential candidate they think is stronger on the issues of health care and Medicare in a new
Reuters/Ipsos poll.
May 4, 2012
A
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press poll asks the public their views on the health care law and the Supreme Court.
Quinnipiac University asks voters in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania how they want the Supreme Court to rule on the health care law and if Congress should repeal it.
What do Virginians think of the Affordable Care Act? The
Washington Post conducts a poll to find out.
Asian American registered voters weigh in on which political party is doing a better job handling health care in an
Asian American Justice Center poll.
May 2, 2012
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 repeal of the 2010 health care law, President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party have concentrated on the benefits of the law. And one lesser known provision of the ACA has received top billing in several of their campaign materials: the elimination of gender rating for health insurance premiums.
Gender rating refers to the practice of charging women higher health insurance premiums than men. With the exception of states that already prohibit or limit gender rating, women are frequently charged higher premiums because they require health care services that men do not need, like regular gynecological visits and maternity care. The ACA will eliminate this insurance practice by 2014. This blog post looks into Americans’ views of this provision, finding that the majority of Americans like the idea of getting rid of gender rating, but at the same time most aren’t aware that the health reform law already has plans to do so.
Awareness Of Gender Rating Prohibition Is Low
In
Kaiser’s April Health Tracking Poll, roughly a third (35 percent) of Americans were aware that the health reform law prohibits insurance companies from charging women higher premiums than men, down from about half (48 percent) in June 2010, just three months after the ACA was signed into law. Although the provision directly impacts women, particularly those under the age of 50, women as a whole were no more likely than men to be familiar with it. Democrats were more likely than Republicans to be aware of this provision (43 percent versus 25 percent), but still fewer than half were familiar with its inclusion in the law.
But, Favorability Of Provision Is High
While relatively few Americans are aware that the ACA includes the gender rating provision, many Americans like the idea of leveling the playing field for health insurance premiums. Overall, six in ten (61 percent) have a favorable view of this provision, a number that rises to seven in ten (69 percent) among women as a group, and about three-quarters among women under age 50 (73 percent of whom back it).
When it comes to the opposite sex, men as a whole are less supportive of the measure, with roughly half (52 percent) supporting it; though that number rises to 57 percent among younger men compared to 47 percent among their older counterparts.
As is true for public opinion on the law as a whole, there is a partisan gap on this provision, albeit a much smaller one. While the measure is overwhelmingly popular among Democrats (74 percent) and looked favorably upon by a solid majority of independents (59 percent), Republicans are a little less enthusiastic. But still, half (51 percent) of Republicans, the law’s most fervent opponents, like that the law gets rid of gender rating. There is also a gender gap on the issue within the Republican party: nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of women who align themselves with the Republican party or lean Republican favor the gender rating prohibition, compared to fewer than half of Republican or Republican-leaning men (43 percent).
April 27, 2012
Young adults are the focus of a new
Harvard University poll that asks what national issue concerns them, how President Barack Obama is handling health care, and if health insurance is a basic right that requires government assistance if a person cannot afford it.
The Public Religion Research Institute and Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs
survey millennials on whether certain categories of religiously affiliated employers, such as Catholic hospitals or universities, should be required to include birth control in their health insurance coverage.
A new survey commissioned by the
John A. Hartford Foundation asks seniors about their experiences accessing care and their interactions with providers during health visits.
April 24, 2012
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 they have a favorable opinion of the law this month and 43 percent have an unfavorable one, a division virtually unchanged from March. Similarly, the mandate is as unpopular as it was in last month, but not more so. But, the Supreme Court challenge did appear to have an impact on Americans’ sense of familiarity with the ACA. In April three in four Americans are aware that the individual mandate is part of the health care law, up from 64 percent before the Court heard oral arguments last month. And the proportion who feel they understand how the law will impact them jumped up 12 percentage points to 51 percent.
Although most Americans (63 percent) don’t expect to have to change anything about their health coverage when the mandate takes effect in 2014, nearly three in ten do believe they will have to make some change to their current insurance arrangements. For more on the survey, including updated numbers on public confidence in the Supreme Court, check out the
topline, charts, and summary document of the poll findings.
April 20, 2012
A
New York Times/
CBS News poll gauges registered voters’ confidence in the presidential candidates’ ability to make the right decisions about women’s health care issues and how much the issue will factor in to their decision at the ballot box. The survey also asks Americans more generally their views on the health care law and its scope, how the Supreme Court should rule on the law, what they think is the most important problem facing the country, and if paying for health care is one of their biggest economic concerns.
NBC News/
Wall Street Journal explores the following issues related to the public’s opinion of the ACA: views of the law overall, support for all or parts of it being eliminated, awareness of news coverage on the Supreme Court hearings, and if the Court’s decision will be based on the law or politics. In terms of the election, the poll asks which presidential candidate Americans think would do better on women’s issues.
In a recent survey, the
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press asks registered voters if certain issues will be important to their vote this November, including health care, Medicare, abortion, and birth control.
A
Reuters/Ipsos poll asks Americans which issue they think is most important in the upcoming presidential campaign and which candidate is stronger on health care.
Which candidate do American voters think will do better job on health care? A
Quinnipiac University poll asks just that.
Gallup asks Americans to say in their own words what they think is the most important problem facing the country.
The Commonwealth Fund explores lapses in health insurance coverage and the effects it may have on access to care.
April 13, 2012
A
Washington Post/
ABC News poll asks Americans their views on the ACA, if the Supreme Court should uphold the law, and if the Court’s decision will be based on law or politics. The survey also asks which presidential candidate the public trusts to deal with health care policy.
April 6, 2012
The
Washington Post/
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press gauge how the Supreme Court hearings on the Affordable Care Act changed the public’s opinion of the law and the Court.
A
Gallup/USA Today poll asks voters in swing states how important certain issues are to them, including health care and policies on birth control. The survey also asks how closely voters are following the debate over contraception, and if they agree with President Obama or Republican presidential candidates Romney or Santorum on the issue.
On Tuesday night, the Wisconsin
exit poll, sponsored by a group of national media organizations, asked Republican presidential primary voters which candidate they trust to handle health care.
The
Public Religion Research Institute asks Jewish Americans about what issue is most important to them in their vote for president, views on the Supreme Court and the health care law, and what they view as the Obama Administration’s most positive accomplishment and its biggest failure.
The latest
Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index examines trends on insurance coverage, with a special focus on young adults.
The
Field Poll, conducted on behalf of the California Endowment, asks registered voters in California on what they view as the state’s biggest health risks for kids and about the role of government and other groups in efforts to reduce childhood obesity and keep people healthy.
March 30, 2012
A number of polling organizations check in with the American public on their views towards the health care law and its time before the Supreme Court.
•
CNN/ORC asks the public’s view of the law overall and of the individual mandate, if the case should have been televised, how the Court should rule and if the decision will be political, and how the Court’s decision could potentially affect their vote for President Obama in November.
• A
CBS News/New York Times survey delves into Americans’ support for some of the specific elements of the law, including the individual mandate, its impacts on employers, families, and the role of government, and what the Supreme Court should do with the law.
• A McClatchy-Marist poll asks Americans how the
Supreme Court should rule on the health care law and if the higher cost of health care is
straining their family’s budget.
Gallup asks Americans if they worry about certain issues, including the availability and affordability of health care.
Suffolk University asks likely voters what they consider to be the most important issue facing the U.S., their opinion on the health care law, what they think its goals are, and if they think it will affect them personally. They also ask if changing the Medicare program is necessary to reduce the national debt.
And the libertarian
Reason-Rupe poll gauges Americans’ views on the regulation of the health care market, possible changes to the Medicare program, and the possible tradeoffs of adapting community rating as part of the health care law. It’s also the only survey we’ve seen that asks the public whether the federal government should have the power to make us all eat broccoli.
March 27, 2012
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 up to it, this provision has been one of the most controversial aspects of the law. As the lawyers, policymakers, ACA opponents and supporters focus intently on the hearings, this
Data Note looks at what the general public thinks of the mandate, explores the reasons why, and suggests that while opinion on the mandate has been fairly consistent over time, it also remains malleable, and basic factual information and messages can sway Americans’ opinion.