The never-ending rise of health care costs is the greatest concern Americans have for themselves and their families, according to a recent poll.

A quarter of Americans say cite health care costs as their greatest source of angst, up from 15 percent who said the same thing in response to a similar poll conducted by Monmouth University two years ago.

In a distant second is job security and unemployment, at 14 percent. Being able to pay bills and buy groceries is in third, at 12 percent.

While the rising cost of higher education got a lot of attention from Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, in which he called for tuition-free college, only 4 percent of Americans ranked education costs as their number one family concern.

Similarly, taxes, which have been the central focus of Republican economic rhetoric for more than a generation and which President Trump and Congressional leaders have said is the top priority in the coming year, are only the top concern for 4 percent of respondents.

Ranked even lower are other prominent political issues, such as immigration (3 percent), terrorism (2 percent) and education policy (1 percent).

A large portion of the country is greatly distraught over the fact that Donald Trump is president, but only 1 percent of Americans say that that fact is actually the greatest concern facing their family.

In recent years, whoever is in power politically has been blamed by the opposition for the rising cost of health care. While premiums did not rise as dramatically under President Obama as they had his predecessor, President George W. Bush, his health care overhaul did not stop prices from going up — in many cases significantly — a fact Republicans seized on in the last two election cycles.

Related: 12 ways to save on health care

Now Republicans are faced with the daunting challenge of repealing the Affordable Care Act without throwing millions off coverage or driving up prices further.

Instant Insights /

Health care costs top concern for American families

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