VOTER VITALS November 2021 Edition – A Health Care Tracking Poll

MEMORANDUM   
  
TO: Interested Parties  
FROM: Lauren Crawford Shaver, The Partnership for America’s Health Care Future  
RE: VOTER VITALS November 2021 Edition – A Health Care Tracking Poll  
DATE: December 6, 2021 

The November 2021 edition of  Voter Vitals – a nationwide tracking poll conducted by Locust Street Group for the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future – shows that voters are unwilling to pay any more in health care costs to create a new government-controlled health insurance system. 

The vast majority of voters prefer for lawmakers to build on what’s working in health care rather than create the public option, create a government-run plan for those in states that did not expand Medicaid, or open up Medicare to younger Americans. Polling shows voters would far prefer to address Medicaid expansion by providing subsidies for those in states that did not expand Medicaid to purchase coverage through the marketplace instead of creating a new government-controlled plan. 

“The November 2021 edition of Voter Vitals makes clear voters prefer building on and improving what is working in health care to expand access to affordable, high-quality coverage and care for every American instead of creating a public option or opening up Medicare,” said Phillip Morris, Partner of Locust Street Group. “The vast majority of insured voters are satisfied with their current health coverage, and support remains consistently low for government-run proposals.” 

Key findings of the survey include:  

• Lowering COSTS (67 percent) remains the top health care priority for Democratic, swing, and Republican voters. 
• 75 percent of voters with health insurance coverage are SATISFIED with their coverage. 
• Support for government-run proposals remains LOW – including for Medicare for All (45 percent, +0 percent since August) and the public option (47 percent, +1 percent since August). 
• 65 percent prefer BUILDING ON our current system rather than creating the public option or opening up Medicare – including a majority of Democratic voters. 
• Voters 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 (57 percent) over creating a new government-run insurance plan (43 percent). 

• An increasing majority are CONCERNED about limiting access to quality care (74 percent, +3 percent since August), increasing payroll taxes (70 percent, +3 percent since August), and bankrupting the Medicare Trust Fund (70 percent, +3 percent since August) to expand Medicare. 

Methodology:  

• N=2,000 likely U.S. voters nationwide.  

• Balanced to U.S. demographics by gender, age, race, income, political ideology and health coverage.  
• Fielded online: November 6-12, 2021.   
• Margin of error: +/- 2 percent.  

To read Locust Street’s executive summary of the survey findings, CLICK HERE.  

To read Locust Street’s complete survey analysis, CLICK HERE.  

To read previous editions of Voter Vitals, CLICK HERE.