President Barack Obama has vowed to keep pushing for new gun control measures and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the failed gun vote in the Senate was “just the beginning.” However, the latest Reason-Rupe national poll finds just 33 percent of Americans feel the “Senate should debate and vote [...] Read more »
America the Clueless
The problems with our country’s political discourse are many and grave, but an insufficient attention to Obamacare isn’t among them. We have talked Obamacare to death, or at least into home hospice care. … So explain this: according to a recent poll, roughly 40 percent of Americans don’t even know [...] Read more »
One hospital charges $8,000 — another, $38,000
Consumers on Wednesday will finally get some answers about one of modern life’s most persistent mysteries: how much medical care actually costs. For the first time, the federal government will release the prices that hospitals charge for the 100 most common inpatient procedures. Until now, these charges have been closely [...] Read more »
Healthcare: Reform or move on
Let’s be honest. Healthcare reform doesn’t quite sell itself. With few exceptions, more voters have disliked the plan than liked it in polls over the last several years. But at the same time, even fewer voters want the law repealed or defunded. Hence, Republican attempts to take those actions are [...] Read more »
Americans Give Guns, Immigration Reform Low Priority
Americans put reforming immigration and reducing gun violence — the focus of much of the attention on Capitol Hill in recent weeks — at the bottom of a list of 12 priorities for Congress and the president to address. Americans instead say leaders in Washington should give highest priority to [...] Read more »
Our Shifting Attitudes Toward Open Access for Birth Control
Close to two-thirds of women favor making contraceptive pills available over the counter, according to a new nationally-representative survey. In addition, about 30 percent of women using either no birth control or a less effective method—such as condoms—said they would likely take the Pill if it was sold without a [...] Read more »
Middle-Aged Americans Most Worried About Finances
Middle-aged Americans are more likely than those younger and older to worry about personal financial issues. Within this broad middle-aged category, those aged 50 to 64 are either as likely as or more likely than those aged 30 to 49 to worry about most financial problems. [cont.] Frank Newport & [...] Read more »
How Social Groups Influence Parents’ Decision to Vaccinate
The people and information sources parents surround themselves with may influence their choice to vaccinate their children or not, according to a survey from one county in Washington state. … “The take-home message from this is that the social networks for the majority of parents are extremely important in affecting [...] Read more »
Americans’ Financial Worry Lowest Since Before Recession
Americans’ financial worry has eased to the lowest level since before the recession. Gallup classifies 53% of Americans as highly or moderately worried about their finances, down from a peak of 61% a year ago, and the lowest since 45% in 2007. … Retirement savings and paying medical costs in [...] Read more »
New National Latino Health Care Survey Results
A new poll of Latino/Hispanic adults strongly suggests that the Federal Government needs to do much more outreach to Latinos regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The poll, commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico, and impreMedia and administered by [...] Read more »