Lake County Ohio Weal

GALLUP View of U.S. Healthcare Quality Declines to 24 Year Low   Americans' rating of U.S. healthcare coverage is below average;  most say the system has major problems by Megan Brenan Americans' positive rating of the quality of healthcare in the U.S. is now at its lowest point in Gallup’s trend dating back to 2001. The current 44% of U.S. adults who say the quality of healthcare is excellent (11%) or good (33%) is down by a total of 10 percentage points since 2020 after steadily eroding each year. Between 2001 and 2020, majorities ranging from 52% to 62% rated U.S. healthcare quality positively; now, 54% say it is only fair (38%) or poor (16%). As has been the case throughout the 24-year trend, Americans rate healthcare coverage in the U.S. even more negatively than they rate quality. Just 28% say coverage is excellent or good, four points lower than the average since 2001 and well below the 41% high point in 2012. In addition to registering subpar ratings of the quality and...

  GALLUP: More in U.S. See Health Coverage as Government Responsibility Approval of Affordable Care Act also near high point by Jeffrey M. Jones -Sixty-two percent of U.S. adults, the highest percentage in more than a decade, say it is the federal government’s responsibility to ensure all Americans have healthcare coverage. The figure had slipped to as low as 42% in 2013 during the troubled rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA's) healthcare exchanges. It has been as high as 69% in 2006. The results are based on Gallup’s annual Health and Healthcare survey, conducted Nov. 6-20. The same poll finds fewer Americans than in the recent past rating U.S. healthcare coverage and quality positively. Large majorities of Democrats have consistently believed the government should make sure all Americans have health coverage. The 90% of Democrats who now say the government should ensure health coverage for all is the highest Gallup has measured for the group to date. The high points for Re...

STATISTA: Most Loved Digital Audio Streaming Platforms   by Anna Fleck, Sep 30, 2024 Digital audio streaming has taken off in a big way in the past ten years. According to Statista’s Digital Music Outlook, the music streaming market size increased to US$25.84 billion in 2023, reaching a total of around 900 million users. The pandemic years saw particular growth in the podcast industry, as people forced to stay home searched out entertainment, driving up listenership and advertiser investment. According to Megaphone, a podcast technology company owned by Spotify, where 2021 was a story of “content explosion”, 2022 became one of “diversification”, as the most significant jumps in podcast downloads came from markets newer to the medium, such as Spain (+298 percent), Italy (+244 percent), and France (+375 percent), while the highest growth in unique listeners in terms of age groups was the 13-17 year olds (+49 percent) and the 55-64 year olds (+45 percent). A handful of companies are l...

  STATISTA & PEW: Americans Agree that Money Has Too Much Power in Congress by  Felix Richter, Dec 9, 2024 The line between lobbying, political donations and corruption is perilously thin. While the former is sometimes referred to as “bribery in a suit” by critics, the key difference between the two is that lobbying is legal, while bribery as a form of corruption is not. While both practices are seeking influence, bribery is actually buying it while lobbying is merely trying to sway lawmakers’ opinions in the desired direction – at least officially. Critics argue that lobbying, especially in the form of large-scale campaign donations, be it from individuals, organizations or interest groups, often implies an element of quid-pro-quo that borders on corruption. “We supported you and now we expect you to do the same for us,” is the understanding behind such transactions, with the absence of any guarantees making sure that no legal lines are crossed. While there’s not much tha...