Health News
- Higher-income Kentuckians' Reported Health Keeps Declining; Reports From Those With Lower Incomes Go Up, Marginally
A statewide poll again finds that Kentuckians with higher incomes consider themselves in better health than those with lower incomes. The latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, taken Oct. 8 through Nov. 6, found that 55 percent of Kentucky adults who are...
- Economic Upturn Boosts Share Of Kentuckians On Employer-based Health Coverage; Health Reform Boosts Number On Public Plans
Half of Kentucky's working-age adults now get health insurance through their employers, up from 37 percent two years ago, reversing a downward trend that began with the Great Recession. Meanwhile, under federal health reform, many more Kentuckians...
- Obamacare In Ky.: Those Who Say They Have Enough Info On How It Affects Them Favor It; Those Who Lack Info Say They Don't Favor It
Kentuckians' support of the federal health-reform law remains low, with only 30 percent saying they view it favorably and 48 percent unfavorably, but 57 percent said they didn't have enough information to say how the law would affect them personally....
- Kentuckians Think Their Children's Generation Will Be Less Healthy And Worse Off Economically Than Current Working-age Generation
Forty percent of Kentucky adults think their children's generation will be less healthy than the current generation of working-age Kentuckians, and 61 percent think the newer generation will be worse off economically, according to a statewide poll...
- 4 Of 5 Kentuckians Think Child Obesity Is A Problem, And More Than Half Favor A Statewide Smoking Ban, Poll Finds
More than four out of five Kentuckians think too many children are overweight, and more than half want a statewide smoking ban. These are two of key findings of the Kentucky Health Issues Poll, which also asked respondents about prescription drug abuse,...
Health News
Almost as many Kentuckians support health reform as oppose it, but half say they don't know how it may affect them
By Al Cross and Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
The federal health-reform law is gaining support from Kentuckians, to the point that they are almost evenly divided about it.
Those are among the results of the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, conducted for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky among a random sample of almost 1,600 Kentucky adults Oct. 8 through Nov. 6, the final month of an election season in which the law was an issue.
After two years in which opinion of the law was clearly unfavorable, the poll found that 39 percent view it favorably while 41 percent view it unfavorably. That is well within the poll's error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, which applies to both numbers.
The findings are similar to a national survey taken at about the same time. The October 2014 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found that 36 percent of U.S. adults had favorable views of the law; 43 percent were unfavorable, and 20 percent did not know or offered no opinion.
In the Kentucky poll, about as many people reported a negative impact from the law (21 percent) as a positive impact (18 percent). The positive-impact number rose form 7 percent in the 2013 poll, which was taken just after enrollment for expanded Medicaid and subsidized health insurance had opened.
Notably, 51 percent of those polled said they didn't have enough information to know how the law would affect them personally. That was down from 57 percent a year earlier.
Most of those who reported not having enough information, 64 percent, had not graduated from high school. Almost half of Kentuckians (47 percent) said they understood how the law would impact them personally. Sixty-six percent said the law had no effect on them.
?KHIP data trends show overall support for the ACA has risen since 2013 as more Kentuckians have gotten information about the law," Susan Zepeda, President and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, said in a press release. "More work is needed to educate people about the law?s provisions and potential impacts on families.?
The poll was also conducted for Interact for Health, formerly the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. It used landline and cell phones.
Opinions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, are still driven partly by politics. The survey found that 58 percent of Democrats had favorable views of the law and 64 of Republicans had unfavorable views. Among independents, 42 percent had unfavorable views and 31 percent were favorable.
Kentucky Health News
The federal health-reform law is gaining support from Kentuckians, to the point that they are almost evenly divided about it.
Those are among the results of the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, conducted for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky among a random sample of almost 1,600 Kentucky adults Oct. 8 through Nov. 6, the final month of an election season in which the law was an issue.
After two years in which opinion of the law was clearly unfavorable, the poll found that 39 percent view it favorably while 41 percent view it unfavorably. That is well within the poll's error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, which applies to both numbers.The findings are similar to a national survey taken at about the same time. The October 2014 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found that 36 percent of U.S. adults had favorable views of the law; 43 percent were unfavorable, and 20 percent did not know or offered no opinion.
In the Kentucky poll, about as many people reported a negative impact from the law (21 percent) as a positive impact (18 percent). The positive-impact number rose form 7 percent in the 2013 poll, which was taken just after enrollment for expanded Medicaid and subsidized health insurance had opened.
Notably, 51 percent of those polled said they didn't have enough information to know how the law would affect them personally. That was down from 57 percent a year earlier.
Most of those who reported not having enough information, 64 percent, had not graduated from high school. Almost half of Kentuckians (47 percent) said they understood how the law would impact them personally. Sixty-six percent said the law had no effect on them.
?KHIP data trends show overall support for the ACA has risen since 2013 as more Kentuckians have gotten information about the law," Susan Zepeda, President and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, said in a press release. "More work is needed to educate people about the law?s provisions and potential impacts on families.?
The poll was also conducted for Interact for Health, formerly the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. It used landline and cell phones.
Opinions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, are still driven partly by politics. The survey found that 58 percent of Democrats had favorable views of the law and 64 of Republicans had unfavorable views. Among independents, 42 percent had unfavorable views and 31 percent were favorable.
- Higher-income Kentuckians' Reported Health Keeps Declining; Reports From Those With Lower Incomes Go Up, Marginally
A statewide poll again finds that Kentuckians with higher incomes consider themselves in better health than those with lower incomes. The latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, taken Oct. 8 through Nov. 6, found that 55 percent of Kentucky adults who are...
- Economic Upturn Boosts Share Of Kentuckians On Employer-based Health Coverage; Health Reform Boosts Number On Public Plans
Half of Kentucky's working-age adults now get health insurance through their employers, up from 37 percent two years ago, reversing a downward trend that began with the Great Recession. Meanwhile, under federal health reform, many more Kentuckians...
- Obamacare In Ky.: Those Who Say They Have Enough Info On How It Affects Them Favor It; Those Who Lack Info Say They Don't Favor It
Kentuckians' support of the federal health-reform law remains low, with only 30 percent saying they view it favorably and 48 percent unfavorably, but 57 percent said they didn't have enough information to say how the law would affect them personally....
- Kentuckians Think Their Children's Generation Will Be Less Healthy And Worse Off Economically Than Current Working-age Generation
Forty percent of Kentucky adults think their children's generation will be less healthy than the current generation of working-age Kentuckians, and 61 percent think the newer generation will be worse off economically, according to a statewide poll...
- 4 Of 5 Kentuckians Think Child Obesity Is A Problem, And More Than Half Favor A Statewide Smoking Ban, Poll Finds
More than four out of five Kentuckians think too many children are overweight, and more than half want a statewide smoking ban. These are two of key findings of the Kentucky Health Issues Poll, which also asked respondents about prescription drug abuse,...