About half of respondents say they or a friend or family member has received Medicaid, and a similar share say the program is important to their family. Among the one in five respondents who personally have been covered by Medicaid.
In new poll, 62 percent of seniors said they want Medicare to be left alone, but, overall, Americans are split with 50 percent of all polled saying they wanted Medicare to remain the same and 46 percent saying it should be changed.
Nine months after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, Americans remain just as divided over the federal health care overhaul as they were in the weeks immediately following its passage, a new poll finds. Forty two percent of Americans say they are at least somewhat favorable to the new health care law, while 41 percent say the opposite.
Among those who support repeal of all or parts of the law, a majority want to keep key provisions tested in the poll.
Support for the health reform law rose to 49% of Americans in September, a climb of 6 points, while opposition fell from 45% to 40% — but 53% say they’re confused about the law, up 8% points.
Nationally, employees now pay an average of $3,997 as their share of the annual family health insurance premium — twice the 2001 amount.
Overall support remained stable since the June survey, with about half the public expressing a favorable view of the overhaul, the poll found.
Even as the health overhaul creeps forward, one thing that’s been moving even slower is public opinion.
“Systems Reformers” join in the Regulator vs. Marketeer debate over health reform
Ultimately, U.S. health care reform will be a compromise that will leave many activists, both on the left or the right, unsatisfied, writes Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, in this column. “In the end, however, if legislation passes, the American people will not think about it as liberal, or centrist, [...]
In surveys, what the public says is wrong with the U.S. health system often doesn’t line up with what the experts say is wrong. “They don’t disagree on everything, far from it.” writes Dr Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation in today’s column. “But there is a wide gulf on basic beliefs [...]
A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that Americans’ concern about the threat of HIV/AIDS has dropped sharply in recent years with just 6 percent of adults surveyed now naming HIV/AIDS as the most urgent health problem facing the country, down for 44 percent in 1995. The drop comes at the same time [...]
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Seattle Times Health News
Experts divided over recommendation to screen children for cholesterol
Some clinicians say universal screening is an important tool to help identify children who are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol and to pinpoint others who could benefit from treatment. Others express concerns that screening may do more harm than good.
People in state high-risk insurance plans often feel left behind
The federal health law set up new plans that are cheaper and more comprehensive than the older ones run by states but consumers need to go without insurance for six months to qualify.
Peeking in on your doctor’s notes
Although federal law guarantees patients the right to examine and get copies of their medical records, providers haven’t always made it easy to do so. But the movement to give patients direct access to their health information has picked up steam, and policymakers have encouraged it as a way to empower patients to help manage their health and their medical care.
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