Americans want presidential candidates to give health care issues more attention
Nearly half of Americans report that a candidate’s positions on lowering drug costs and mental health care policy are important in determining their vote in.
In a presidential campaign season dominated by the issues of inflation and immigration, two-thirds of Americans believe health care is not getting enough attention. West Health and Gallup recently surveyed nearly 2,400 people about their attitudes regarding health care and reached five conclusions.
Two in three Americans, including majorities of both political parties, say health care is not receiving enough attention during the presidential campaign so far. Although Democrats and independents are more likely to say health care is not getting enough attention, more than half of Republicans also agree. Among the respondents who said they watched the presidential debate last month, similar numbers (71%) report that the candidates did not spend enough time on health care-related issues. This attitude is held by 77% of Democrats, 74% of independents and 57% of Republicans who watched the debate.
Although independents are slightly more trusting of Harris than Trump when it comes to acting on key health care issues, about a third report not trusting either candidate. Solid majorities of Republicans say Donald Trump is more trusted to handle the issues, and the vast majority of Democrats say Kamala Harris is. Political independents are slightly more likely to report trusting Harris over Trump on health care issues. About a third or more of independents report they don’t trust either candidate across all health care issues polled.
Nearly half of Americans report that a candidate’s positions on lowering drug costs and mental health care policy are important in determining their vote in. A candidate’s position on protecting Medicare and Social Security is the single most or among the most important health care-related issues in determining 63% of Americans’ vote in the upcoming presidential election, while a candidate’s position on lowering the cost of health care (57%) is close behind.
Read more: Health care is top of mind as voters prepare to head to polls, survey finds
Protecting Medicare and lowering drug costs are among the most important issues older Americans care about when determining their vote. Americans 65 and older are much more likely than those aged 18 to 49 to say a candidate’s positions on protecting Medicare and Social Security and lowering drug costs are among the most important issues or the single most important issue in determining their vote. Younger and older voters place about equal importance on a candidate’s positions on lowering health care costs and their mental health care policies.
Democrats are much more optimistic than Republicans and independents about improving access to affordable health care in the next five years. Fifty-eight percent of Democrats believe access is very or somewhat likely to improve, while majorities of Republicans (70%) and independents (64%) say improvement is not very or not at all likely.
“Americans continue to have serious concerns about their ability to afford the health care they need,” the survey report concluded. “Issues related to the cost and accessibility of health care directly impact the day-to-day life of every voter, regardless of their political party affiliation.”