5 things on Americans’ 2013 health policy agenda

With the 113^th Congress up and running and the president’s policy schedule filling up by the day, a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health identified five things Americans would like the government to set as top health care priorities this year:

1. State exchanges. Fifty-five percent of respondents say state-based health insurance exchanges are a top priority for their lawmakers. With only 18 states and Washington, D.C., declaring they will create state exchanges, more information is needed on how federally run exchanges will operate in the remaining states. “This is the year of the health insurance exchange,” said David Colby of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at a luncheon held Thursday at the Kaiser Family Foundation. The panelists, including Drew Altman, CEO of KFF, noted that governors are still split along partisan lines about the creation of exchanges.

2. PPACA opposition. Fifty-two percent, including 78% of Republicans, say the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act opponents in Congress should continue trying to overturn the law. When asked why, a majority of respondents cited overturning the law for “less impact on taxpayers, employers and health care providers.”

3. PPACA complacency. Forty percent think that PPACA opponents in Congress should “accept that it is now the law of the land,” and move on to focus on implementation.

4. Premiums. Increasing state regulation of health insurance premiums should be a priority for lawmakers, 37% of respondents say.

5. Women’s health care. One-fifth of respondents believe lawmakers should limit women’s family planning, reproductive health and other services. A timely topic as PPACA’s birth control mandate seems poised to head to the Supreme Court later this year, according to the Associated Press.