There’s a likely reason why Democrats have been talking a lot more about healthcare this election than Republicans: their voters care more about it.
President Obama’s 2010 healthcare law dominated in past presidential elections, as Republicans vowed to get rid of it should they win the White House. While GOP candidates are still promising to ditch the law, the issue has faded this year, overshadowed by national security and terrorism as top voter concerns.
Healthcare issues were beat out by terrorism, the economy and jobs, and dissatisfaction with government as top concerns voters care about in 2016, according to a poll released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
It’s not that Americans aren’t worried about healthcare anymore — it’s just that the cost is driving their concerns, not necessarily Obamacare, although many would argue the two are linked.
Thirty-four percent of respondents to the Kaiser poll found the cost of healthcare or health insurance were of top importance when determining which candidate they will support this year. About 27 percent listed Obamacare as an extremely important factor in their decision.
But the big contrast was between Democrats versus Republicans. Three in four registered Democratic voters ranked a candidate’s position on the cost of healthcare, health insurance and prescription drugs as an important factor, while just over half of Republican voters felt that way.
There were also big differences between voters when asked the importance of a candidate’s position on Medicaid, ensuring the uninsured get coverage and reproductive health services for women, with many more Democrats listing those questions as top priority.
Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who are battling each other for the Democratic presidential nomination, have proposed more detailed health reform ideas than most of their Republican counterparts, with Sanders pushing his single-payer plan and Clinton arguing that the next president should focus on improving the Affordable Care Act.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump proposed some reforms on Tuesday aimed at lowering drug costs, including a traditionally Democratic idea of allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices.
But while congressional Republicans have vowed to present a comprehensive health reform plan this year, none of the GOP presidential candidates other than Jeb Bush has done so.
