Back in 2011 the Census Bureau started releasing an alternative measure of income known as the supplemental poverty measure. It takes into account things like government in-kind benefits and necessary out-of-pocket medical costs. The Kaiser Family Foundation has done a new analysis based on this data and found poverty among seniors is significantly worse than under official estimates. From KFF:

Support for the Affordable Care Act has dropped to its lowest level in years according the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll. The poll found only 35 percent have a favorable opinion of the law while 40 percent have an unfavorable opinion. This is the lowest level of support since 2011. From Kaiser:

The recent slowdown in health care spending can only be partly attributed to the economy downturn according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Over the past several years health care spending has grown noticeably slower than it has over the last several decades. The big question though is whether this slowdown is purely a byproduct of the recession or the result of changes in our health care system. According the study while much of the slowdown is due to the overall economic downturn it is likely not the only cause.

This weekend it will have been three years since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. Despite some optimistic claims that its popularity would soar after its passage, public support for the law remains weak. The latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll found 37 percent of Americans support the law while 40 percent oppose it.

Turning Medicare into a voucher program or a “premium support” program, as Rep. Paul Ryan would describe his plan for Medicare, is highly unpopular with basically all segments of the American people, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation poll. The poll found 58 percent want to keep Medicare as is, including 55 percent of Republicans.

The country is fairly evenly divided on the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act. According to a Pew Research poll 40 percent of people disapprove of the ruling, while 36 percent approve. Not surprisingly there is a huge partisan divide: Republicans strongly disapprove and Democrats strongly approve of it. A plurality of Independents, 42 percent, approve, while 32 percent disapprove.

There is more confirmation that President Obama holds a small but consistent lead over Mitt Romney. The latest CNN-ORC poll found Obama with a three point lead among registered voters, Obama 49% – Romney 46%. That’s not changed since the ACA Supreme Court ruling. The other good news for Obama in this poll is that his job approval rating is 51 percent.

Now that the Supreme Court has made it easier for states to choose not to take part in the Medicaid expansion provision of the Affordable Care Act, some Republican governors have already started seizing on this latitude. In just the few days since the ruling came down, both South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) have affirmatively declared their states will not take part in the Medicaid expansion.

With the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act only days away, I have tried to play out all the potential ways the Court could rule and what they would mean on a purely political level this election. As best as I can tell any Court decision is likely to be either a political wash for Democrats or a net loser. It is hard to make a case that any of the three most likely court decisions would really help Democrats or Obama this November.

The Supreme Court’s historic six hours of oral argument about the Affordable Care Act didn’t significantly change public opinion about the law. According the Kaiser Family Foundation Poll the country still remains evenly divided about the whole law. However, opinion about the individual mandate worsened.