Americans would rather see Congress prioritize tackling issues suchas drug prices, pre-existing conditions and surprise medical billsthan undertake another  major health care reform.

A poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) shows that mostAmericans want the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to continue to be thelaw of the land—and that they are focused more on specific issuesof health care, such as high drug costs, rather than wanting to seesweeping changes like creating a Medicare for All system.

The April tracking poll from KFF shows thatAmericans are very concerned about health care issues that couldaffect them directly. When asked what priorities Congress shouldhave regarding health care policy:

• 68 percent of Americans saying lowering drug costs should be a toppriority
• 64 percent list protections for people with pre-existing healthconditions as a top priority
• 50 percent say protecting people from surprise medical billsshould be a top priority

On the other hand, implementing a Medicare for All system islisted as a top priority for 31 percent of Americans; repealing andreplacing the ACA is listed by 27 percent; and expanding financialhelp for those already on the ACA marketplace is listed as a toppriority by 26 percent of respondents.

Medicare for All has support—depending on how it's defined

Even if it's not top-of-mind for Americans, the Medicare for Allconcept has had steady support in recent years. In the most recentpolling, 56 percent of Americans said they favor a Medicare for allsystem. Support for the concept has remained steady, at between 59percent and 55 percent in KFF polls since June 2017.

However, the way such a national, single-payer plan is labeledclearly makes a difference. Calling it “universal health coverage”results in 63 percent of respondents saying they have a positivereaction to the term. “Medicare for All” gets positive marks from63 percent; “single-payer insurance” gets a 49 percent positiveresponse; and “socialized medicine” gets a positive response from46 percent of Americans.

Partisanship weighs heavily on the discussion

As with many legislative issues today, partisan lines havecontinued to harden: since 2017, Democratic support of Medicare forAll has jumped from 49 percent to 58 percent, while Republicanrespondents have had the opposite reaction: 42 percent opposedMedicare for All in 2017, 51 percent oppose it now.

One area of agreement: protections for people with pre-existinghealth conditions. The poll found that 68 percent of Democrats sayit's very important that the government continue to prohibitinsurance companies from denying coverage to those withpre-existing conditions; majorities of both independents (68percent) and Republicans (54 percent) agreed.

Similarly, majorities do not want the Supreme Court to overturnprotections for preexisting conditions: 80 percent of Democratsoppose that possible outcome of a current lawsuit, 67 percent of independents and52 percent of Republicans also oppose such an outcome.

However, ask Americans whether the Supreme Court should overturnthe ACA, and the partisan divide re-emerges: 83 percent ofDemocrats say no, 59 of independents join them in opposingoverturning the ACA, while 73 percent of Republicans want the courtto overturn Obamacare.

Overall, that comes to 54 percent of Americans opposing aSupreme Court repeal of the ACA; 39 percent would welcome it.

Read more: 

• GOP and Dems agree: Put an end to surprisebilling
• AHIP emphasizes pre-existing condition protectionin letter to Congress
• Employer-based health care hits poorer Americans'paychecks hardest