ICYMI: Polling Continues to Show Voter Prefer Building on our Current Health Care System

WASHINGTON – The latest edition of Voter Vitals – a nationwide tracking poll conducted by Locust Street Group for the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future – shows insured voters remain satisfied with their current coverage and the vast majority continue to prefer lawmakers build on our current health care system rather than start over by creating new government-controlled health insurance systems like Medicare for All or the public option.

Key findings include:

• Lowering COSTS (62 percent) remains the top health care priority for Democratic, Swing, and Republican voters. 
• The vast majority of insured voters (74 percent) remain SATISFIED with their current health coverage. 
• Support for government-run proposals remains LIMITED – including for Medicare for All (50 percent) and the public option (49 percent). 
• 63 percent prefer BUILDING ON our current system rather than creating the public option and 69 percent prefer building on our current system rather than opening up Medicare to younger Americans.  
• Voters still prefer to build on what’s WORKING by providing subsidies for those in states that did not expand Medicaid to purchase coverage in the existing marketplace (58 percent) over creating a new government-run insurance plan (42 percent). 
• A majority of voters remain CONCERNED about limiting access to quality care (74 percent), bankrupting the Medicare HIT Fund to expand Medicare (71 percent), and increasing payroll taxes (70 percent).

Research shows that building on what’s working is the most effective way to expand access to affordable, high-quality health care coverage in America. Enhanced subsidies and full expansion of our current system could lower costs and the rate of uninsured Americans. Meanwhile, studies show that proposals like the public option, Medicare at 60, and Medicare for All could raise costs, limit access to care, and hurt health care providers. 

When it comes to what’s next for America’s health care future, it is clear voters do NOT support creating unaffordable, new government-controlled health insurance systems that could raise taxes and health care costs for Americans. Instead, voters want lawmakers to continue building on what’s working in health care to expand access to affordable, high-quality health coverage and care.

To read previous editions of Voter Vitals, CLICK HERE.