Reducing health care costs tops housing, jobs, crime and immigration as the leading priority for American voters, according a new survey from Families USA. The poll of more than 1,500 registered voters nationwide found near-unanimous bipartisan support for not only extending enhanced tax credits but for also for broader reforms to bring down costs.
"Regardless of where you live, your income, your type of insurance or your politics, nearly every American believes unreasonable health care costs are an urgent issue for Congress and the president to take on," said Anthony Wright, executive director of the advocacy group. Among the key findings:
- Forty-three percent of voters say lowering health care costs is the most important issue for Congress and the president to address, surpassing housing (35%), jobs (31%), immigration (24%) and crime (21%). Affordability ranks as the number one priority for Democrats and independents and the second priority for Republicans.
- Affordability is a top concern across demographic groups, with 47% of women, 49% of seniors, 47% of Latinos and 45% of small-town and rural voters citing it as their top priority.
- Respondents consider a range of health care prices to be unreasonable, including hospital fees (85%), medical devices (83%), specialist fees (81%) and prescription drugs (80%).
- More than 9 in 10 voters say it's important that Congress and the president act to lower costs. Forty-two percent say the most important reason to do so is to reduce stress on family budgets and bring down the cost of living, while 36% say it's to give access to health care to those who currently can’t afford it.
- Respondents support eliminating legal loopholes that allow providers to overcharge (75%), restricting aggressive billing practices (73%), reducing unnecessary middlemen between patients and providers (72%) and having the government set direct limits on prices that providers can charge (64%).
“After an election on affordability, Congress should be moving quickly on health care tax credits and many other pending proposals, from reforms of Medicare Advantage payments to ensuring hospitals are paid the same price for the same service," Wright said. "Frankly, tax credits should be the easy part, followed by a bigger and bolder affordability agenda on our health care cost crisis that the American people are clearly demanding."
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