Last year, Trump administration officials declared Obamacare “dead,” pulled enrollment ads offline, distributed social media videos critical of the law and sent signals that the law’s requirement to buy health insurance was no longer in effect. But the number of Americans with health insurance stayed largely unchanged. CONT. Margot Sanger-Katz, […] Read more »
When and How New Policy Creates New Politics: Examining the Feedback Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Public Opinion
Following E. E. Schattschneider’s observation that “a new policy creates a new politics,” scholars of “policy feedback” have theorized that policies influence subsequent political behavior and public opinion. Recent studies observe, however, that policy feedback does not always occur and the form it takes varies considerably. To explain such variation, […] Read more »
Republican Strengths Turn Out to Be Weaknesses
Republicans knew the hurdles they were facing when they looked ahead to the 2018 midterms. Off-year elections are usually arrayed against the party in power, and the party’s leaders anticipated that Donald Trump would be a problem in swing districts. They thought these hurdles would be offset, however, by their […] Read more »
Government Remains Top Problem for U.S.
Americans remain most likely to say the government is the greatest problem facing the U.S., with 20% naming some aspect of the federal government or its elected leaders as the nation’s top problem. CONT. Justin McCarthy, Gallup Read more »
Americans’ Confidence in Their Ability to Pay for Health Care Is Falling
President Trump is expected to soon address the nation about the rising cost of prescription drugs. But Americans are worried about more than drug prices. New findings from the Commonwealth Fund Affordable Care Act Tracking Survey show that consumers’ confidence in their ability to afford all their needed health care […] Read more »
Six Months ahead of the Midterm Elections, Democratic and Republican Voters’ Views about President Trump Outweigh their Views on Issues
As primary season for the 2018 midterm elections heats up, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll suggests the elections are shaping up more as a referendum on President Trump than on health care or any other issue. When asked what will make the biggest difference in how they vote in […] Read more »