Health Costs, Medical Bills are a Top Economic Concern among Voters: Poll

According to a new study issued on Wednesday by the health policy research group KFF, voters’ top concerns leading up to the 2024 election are unexpected health expenditures and sudden medical bills, which further exacerbates their pessimistic views about the state of the economy.

It was deemed “extremely important” by at least eight out of ten respondents for the 2024 presidential contenders to address issues including inflation and healthcare affordability. Adults also stated that having the financial means to pay for unforeseen medical bills is more important to them than regular costs like housing, food, electricity, and petrol.

In general, the national economy was deemed “not so good” or “poor” by 67% of voters.

Majorities of both parties and independents voiced worry about unforeseen medical expenses and the overall cost of healthcare services. According to the study, at least seven out of 10 Republicans and Democrats stated they were either “very” or “somewhat worried.”

Democrats have had success on the topic of health care in recent elections, and President Biden’s reelection campaign aims to emphasize the ways he is currently and going forward reducing costs for Americans.   

The administration is concentrating on budgetary concerns to assist families in managing their spending and linking health care reforms to Biden’s financial achievements.  

Biden’s campaign has emphasized some of the president’s most notable accomplishments in lowering healthcare costs and medication prices, such as Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower prescription pricing and its cap on insulin expenses.

However, the survey’s findings indicate that Biden still has to do more to set himself apart from former President Trump.

Individuals who report having trouble paying their bills on time are more likely to have a pessimistic outlook on the US economy and to worry about how they will pay for regular costs like health care.  

In addition, compared to voters who can easily pay their bills, they are more inclined to want the presidential candidates to discuss economic concerns, such as healthcare prices and Medicaid’s future.

Notably, the poll revealed that neither Biden nor Trump had a discernible edge when it came to health care expenses, although Republicans rated Trump better than Democrats did.

Approximately 33% of Democratic voters felt that Biden had addressed health care expenses enough, but 59% of Republican voters felt that Trump had done so.  

Only 14% of respondents in total to the poll felt Biden had gone above and beyond Trump in terms of addressing health care costs.

On the other hand, 26% of voters felt that Trump had done more than Biden and that he had addressed healthcare prices sufficiently. This might be attributed to the fact that people now have a negative perception of Trump’s leadership and are generally unsatisfied with the situation of the economy as a whole.

Despite the fact that Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act more than a year ago, according to a previous KFF survey conducted in November, few American adults are aware that the law’s purpose is to lower prescription medication costs for Medicare beneficiaries.

Although this is an increase from 25% in July, just 32% of individuals stated they were aware of the statute requiring the federal government to bargain for Medicare members’ prices on certain medications.

Between January 30 and February 7, 1,309 U.S. individuals, including 1,055 registered voters, were included in the nationally representative sample for the online and telephone poll.