70% of Wisconsin voters are at least 'Somewhat Concerned' over hospital closures
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – Hospitals are closing all over the state of Wisconsin. In our area alone, the closure of the HSHS/Prevea Hospitals in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls has left a lot of uncertainty. The Healthy Wisconsin Alliance (part of the Wisconsin Hospital Association) wanted to know how deep the concern in the state went. They commissioned a series of questions to be released as part of the Platform Communications' Badger Battlegorund Poll. 500 likely voters were asked questions to gauge concern over the closures, their opinions of hospitals, insurance companies, and if they or someone they love had experienced barriers to receiving care caused by insurance companies.
Overwhelmingly, Wisconsites are concerned about the closing of hospitals. 70% of respondents were 'At least somewhat concerned' about additional hospital closures. Additionally, 50% of those concerned said they are most worried about difficulty accessing care. Specifically, in our area of the state, 85% of Eau Claire-area residents were concerned about future hospital closures.
67% of Wisconsinites believe that hospitals would act in their best interest, while only 6% believe insurance companies would do the same. Those numbers represented majorities across all voter demographics. 83% of the Democrats, 55% of the Republicans and 60% of the Independents believe that hospitals have their best interest in mind.
Finally, nearly 1 in 3, or 33%, have personal experience with difficulty receiving care due to insurance companies denying coverage. Those numbers are mostly unchanged from the last time this question was polled in August of 2024.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
VA Doctors Can Refuse to Treat Dems After Trump Order
Doctors and other medical professionals working for the Department of Veterans Affairs can now refuse to treat Democrats and unmarried veterans. VA hospital bylaws previously barred medical staff from discriminating against patients 'on the basis of race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status or disability in any employment matter,' The Guardian reported. But now, in response to President Donald Trump's January executive order on 'gender ideology,' 'national origin,' 'politics,' and 'marital status' have been removed from the list, allowing medical staff to deny treatment based on their personal politics, according to the newspaper. Similarly, the bylaws on staffing decisions no longer prohibit discriminating against candidates on the basis of national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, membership in a union, or affiliation with a 'lawful political party.' With more than 170 hospitals and more than 1,000 clinics, the VA is the largest integrated hospital system in the U.S. It employs 26,000 doctors and serves 9 million patients annually. In an emailed statement to The Guardian, VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz did not deny that doctors can refuse to treat patients based on their beliefs or that hospitals could fire physicians based on their marital status or political affiliation. 'All eligible veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they've earned under the law,' he said in a statement, calling the rule changes a mere 'formality.' The Daily Beast has also reached out to the VA for comment. The new rules apply to a wide range of professionals, including psychologists, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, certified nurse practitioners, podiatrists, social workers, and speech therapists. Trump's January executive order Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government aimed to strip government protections from transgender people and deny federal funding of 'gender ideology.' It wasn't immediately clear how the VA made the leap to denying patient care and firing doctors over their political affiliations. Under the new rules, doctors could question veterans about whether they had attended Trump rallies or protests, experts warned. VA employees told The Guardian that the new rules were imposed without consulting the system's doctors, which would appear to violate the standards established by the nonprofit organization that accredits hospitals. The American Medical Association passed a resolution at its annual convention last week urging the VA to 'ensure that any amendments to medical staff bylaws are subject to approval by medical staff in accordance with the Joint Commission standards.' Kasperowicz said the VA had worked with the Joint Commission to make sure the changes would not affect the agency's accreditation. Medical ethics experts told The Guardian the new rules are 'extremely disturbing and unethical.' 'It seems on its face an effort to exert political control over the VA medical staff,' said Dr. Arthur Caplan, founding head of the division of medical ethics at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine. 'What we typically tell people in health care is: 'You keep your politics at home and take care of your patients.''
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
RFK Jr. and MAHA agenda divide country but vaccines have widespread support: Poll
RFK Jr. and MAHA agenda divide country but vaccines have widespread support: Poll Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's overall approval rating sits at 51 percent, though the party breakdown shows a big divide between Democrats and the GOP. Show Caption Hide Caption RFK Jr. appoints 8 new members to vaccine committee Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced eight new members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's independent vaccine advisory committee. unbranded - Newsworthy Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again agenda unites people from both parties - but not always in favor of his positions, a recent poll shows. Most Americans blame the food industry for the nation's chronic health problems, echoing arguments Kennedy has long made against 'Big Food,' according to the results of the NBC News Decision Desk Poll released June 16. At the same time, close to 80% of U.S. adults support the use of vaccines for prevention of diseases - a stark contrast from the controversial views on vaccines held by the Cabinet secretary appointed by President Donald Trump. Public opinion of Kennedy Jr. is also divided: 51% of the respondents said it was favorable and 48% picked unfavorable for the former 2024 presidential candidate who ran as a Democrat and then as an independent before dropping out to endorse Trump. More: RFK Jr. suspends campaign; endorses former President Trump A majority of Democrats (82%) say their opinion of Kennedy is either strongly "unfavorable" or 'somewhat unfavorable,' while 84% Republicans view Kennedy as either 'strongly favorable' or 'somewhat favorable.' Among independents, 52% have a favorable view of Kennedy, the son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. The poll was conducted online from May 30-June 10 among a national sample of 19,410 adults age 18 and up. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points. Among the poll participants, 37% described themselves as Democrats, 37% as Republicans and 26% as 'Independent or something else.' Asked about the use of vaccines to prevent diseases, 69% of Republicans, 93% of Democrats and 76% of independents responded to the NBC poll that they support immunizations to protect public health. Kennedy has repeatedly called into question the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Earlier this month, he fired the entire committee that advises the federal government on vaccine safety, implying that it was not conducting "adequate safety trials" before recommending new vaccines to children. Kennedy later appointed to the panel a physician criticized for spreading COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories. Vaccine experts widely dispute Kennedy's characterizations. More: RFK Jr.'s MAHA movement is coming to a state near you NBC's pollsters also asked who deserved the most blame for America's chronic health problems, including obesity and heart disease. A majority at 35% blamed the food industry, followed closely by the 'choices of individuals' at 32%. Kennedy has been a big critic of Big Food and Big Pharma, blaming them for Americans' high rates of chronic ailments like Type 2 Diabetes and accusing the industries of profiting by keeping Americans sick. In April, he announced that eight artificial dyes will be eliminated from medications and the nation's food supply by the end of 2026, including those found in candy, ice cream, soft drinks and jams. Only 6% of respondents blamed environmental toxins - which Kennedy has blamed a host of ailments on - as a reason for chronic diseases. The MAHA Commission report released by Kennedy last month identifies various toxins and environmental factors as potential contributors to chronic disease in American children. He has also announced a series of studies aimed at studying possible environment causes behind autism, which scientists continue to push back on. Last month, the right-leaning think tank Foundation for Government Accountability released a poll showing a similar pattern to NBC's results. It found more than 80% of Democrats and Republicans said they were in support of a U.S. prohibition on certain dyes and chemicals from foods in the same way they were banned in some European countries. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
The Hill
10 hours ago
- The Hill
Slight majority views RFK Jr. favorably: Poll
A slight majority of Americans questioned — 51 percent — view Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. favorably, according to an NBC News poll released on Monday. Slightly fewer than half of respondents — 48 percent — view him unfavorably, including a majority of Democrats surveyed. When questioned about Kennedy's 'Make America Healthy Again' policies, 35 percent said that said the food industry was the most to blame for America's chronic health problems and 32 percent said the choices of individuals were the biggest contributing factor. Twelve percent picked socioeconomic status, 10 percent pointed to health insurance companies and 6 percent listed environmental toxins as top reasons for chronic health issues. Kennedy has pledged to focus on ultra-processed foods, especially for children. His remarks on vaccines are also closely watched. In late May, the CDC said that it would no longer recommend regular COVID-19 shots for healthy children and pregnant women. Last week, he removed every member of the independent panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines, citing a need to 're-establish public confidence in vaccine science.' He the named new picks to the body that included several critics of vaccines as well as people who had spread misinformation during the pandemic. In the new survey, 80 percent of respondents said they supported the use of vaccines to prevent disease, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents. Another 13 percent 'somewhat' opposed using vaccines to prevent disease, and 7 percent said they 'strongly' opposed it. Younger and older voters were more likely to say they 'strongly' supported vaccines, pollsters found. The online poll of 19,410 respondents, conducted May 30 to June 10, had a margin of error of 2.1 percentage points.
