Poll finds Calif. voters strongly support federal health law; Montana lawmakers consider Medicaid expansion

States are confronting a bevy of issues in implementing the health care law including gauging public support for the law, fights over a contraception coverage mandate, expanding Medicaid and assessing the Medicare prescription drug "doughnut hole."

KQED: Field Poll: Strong Statewide Support For Health Care Law
While Americans as a whole remain sharply divided over the Affordable Care Act, a majority of California voters -- 54 percent -- support the federal health care overhaul, a new Field Poll shows. Just over a third of Californians -- 37 percent -- oppose the law (Aliferis, 8/20).

The Denver Post: Denver Proclamation Pulled After Catholic Firm Sues Over Health Care Act
Denver City Councilwoman Robin Kniech inserted herself into a national debate about health care last week when she withdrew a friendly proclamation for Hercules Industries after learning the Denver-based manufacturer had successfully sued for a temporary reprieve from the Affordable Health Care Act. Kniech, a first-term councilwoman who represents the entire city, had wanted to give the company an official commendation for its 50 years of doing business in Denver (Meyer, 8/21).

The Associated Press/Houston Chronicle: Montana Weighs Expanding Medicaid Rolls
Montana lawmakers are trying to decide whether it's worth spending up to $119 million to expand the state's Medicaid program to include as many as 57,000 more people now that a U.S. Supreme Court decision has given them the option. The high court upheld most of President Barack Obama's health care law in June, but it also gave states the choice of saying no to a 2014 Medicaid expansion meant to cover to about 16 million additional people. A decision by Montana legislators, who don't meet in full session until January, won't be easy because of the unanswered questions left by the high court's ruling, a panel of experts told an interim committee of lawmakers on Monday (Molz, 8/20).

The Des Moines Register: Feds: Iowa Seniors Have Saved $8 Million On Drugs This Year Because of Obamacare
Federal health officials said today that Iowa seniors saved nearly $8 million on prescription drugs in the first six months of this (year) due to part of the health-reform law. The savings came from the law's effort to narrow Medicare's "doughnut hole," under which members previously went without federal assistance to buy prescription drugs (Leys, 8/20).

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.