Tracking Poll

Majorities Support Buy-In Ideas for Medicaid and Medicare Among health priorities facing urgent deadlines in Washington in September, the public ranks repeal of the Affordable Care Act lower than reauthorizing funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and stabilizing individual health insurance marketplaces established by the ACA, the Kaiser…

This poll finds large majorities across all parties say reauthorizing funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is an important priority for Congress; however, a larger share of Republicans also say it is important for Congress to work on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). This month’s Kaiser Health Tracking Poll also examines public support for a variety of competing health care policies aimed at improving or replacing the 2010 health care law, including single-payer.

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, Kaiser Family Foundation polling has found the public divided in their overall views of the law. At the same time, an intensity gap in opinion has existed since 2010, with the share of the public holding strongly unfavorable views of the law outnumbering the share with strongly favorable views. A new analysis of Kaiser Family Foundation polling data finds that intensity gap began to close in spring 2017. The share with a “very favorable” view is now roughly equal to the share with a “very unfavorable” view.

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, Kaiser Family Foundation polling has found the public divided in their overall views of the law and in the intensity of their opinions: For seven years, the share of the public holding strongly unfavorable views of the law has outnumbered…

Following the U.S. Senate’s failed vote on the “skinny repeal”, the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that the majority of the public say it is a “good thing” that the Senate did not pass the bill that would have repealed and replaced the ACA. A large share of Americans think President Trump and his administration should do what they can to make the current health care law work and a majority of the public want to see bipartisan efforts to improve the 2010 health care law. However, about half of Republicans and Trump supporters would like to see Republicans in Congress keep working on a plan to repeal the ACA, and most Republicans and Trump supporters endorse using hard-ball tactics to encourage Democrats to start negotiating with President Trump on a replacement plan. The majority of the public are also unaware that health insurance companies choosing not to sell insurance plans or charging higher premiums in certain marketplaces only affect those who purchase their own insurance on these marketplaces.

Most Republicans Are “Disappointed” But Not “Angry” That Repeal-and-Replace Legislation Did Not Pass Senate After the Senate’s failure to pass legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that eight in 10 Americans (78%) say President Trump and his administration should do…

Intensity Gap: Democrats are Twice as Enthusiastic about the ACA than Republicans are About Its Replacement Two-Thirds of Public Oppose Major Medicaid Cuts as Part of Repeal and Replace Plan As the U.S. Senate continues to debate their plan to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the latest…

As the U.S. Senate continues to debate their plan to repeal and replace the ACA, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll finds the public souring on the effort with a growing majority opposed to the plan and a large share that say the plan does not fulfill most of the promises President Trump has made about health care. Even among Republicans, the poll finds that about half would be “less likely” to support the Senate health plan if they heard it would increase premiums for most people who purchase their own insurance on the marketplace. In addition, a majority of the public would rather see Republicans in Congress work with Democrats to make improvements to the ACA but not repeal the law. The tracking poll also gauges the public’s views on the proposed major reductions in federal funding for Medicaid as well as how these views are affected by counter-arguments.

The latest Kaiser Health Tracking poll finds that while there has been a modest increase in the public’s level of support for single-payer in recent years, a substantial share of the public remains opposed to such a plan, and opinions are quite malleable when presented with the types of arguments that would be likely to arise during a national debate.