Health care rising as important issue in presidential race

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Health care and drug costs are moving up the list of concerns as the 2024 presidential election approaches.

Meanwhile, a patient advocacy group hopes to motivate voters and lawmakers with a new “I Am A Medical Debt Voter” information campaign this election season.

High costs

A new national survey by West Health-Gallup Poll found 63% of voters said a candidate’s position on Medicare or Social Security is the single most important issue for them, or among the most important issues. Health care costs trailed at 57%, followed by prescription drug prices, a top issued for 47% of voters. Mental health care ranked at or near the top for 43% of voters, according to the poll results.

“Americans remain concerned over high health care prices and the future of Medicare and Social Security even though other issues dominate during this election cycle, and this is especially true for older Americans, a significant voting bloc,” West Health Policy Center President Timothy Lash said in a news release. “Americans across all political stripes want to know where candidates stand on these critical issues and do not think they’ve heard enough yet. It will be interesting to see how the candidates and political parties address this.”

Addressing medical debt

Apart from that poll, Boston, Massachusetts-based patient advocacy group Community Catalyst has launched the “I Am A Medical Debt Voter” information campaign in hopes of electing policymakers with a sense of urgency to resolve what has grown to be national crisis. At least 100 million Americans are affected by medical debt and Community Catalyst said it is the first such campaign to target the issue and organize voting by people dealing with medical debt.

“We have a medical debt crisis in this country and it’s more important than ever that those impacted by it have their voices heard at the ballot box and policymakers understand the urgent need to address this issue,” organization Senior Director of Policy and Strategy Mona Shah said in a news release.

“Never before has anyone organized this set of voters, but we believe this is a unique moment and that our elected leaders need to hear from the more than 100 million people affected by this crisis,” Shah said. “We know this issue moves voters and those impacted most could be key voters in this election. Our organizing will ensure those who are living through this crisis can have an impact on the election.”

In a separate poll, 75% of voters support removing medical debt from credit reports and 66% of voters said they would feel more favorable toward a policymaker that supports that plan, according to Community Catalyst, which commissioned the survey by HIT Strategies.

Community Catalyst announced it began its advertising campaign last month and will use digital organizing and in-person events in key states.

Are candidates paying attention?

Meanwhile, the West Health-Gallup Poll found two out of three voters said health care was not receiving enough attention in the 2024 presidential campaign. Along party lines, 78% of Democrats, 66% of independents and 53% of Republicans said the candidates were not attending to health care. Just 6% of people said health care is getting too much attention and 27% of people said it is getting the proper amount.

Who do you trust?

The West Health-Gallup Poll found independent voters were slightly more likely to trust Democrat Kamala Harris over Republican Donald Trump for improving access to care and insurance, and for strengthening Medicare. Yet, about one-third of independent voters reported not trusting either candidate on health care issues; about 90% of Democrats said they trusted Harris on health care issues, while 70% of Republicans said the same for Trump.

Is it accessible?

A full 58% of Democrats reported believing access to affordable health care is very likely or somewhat likely to improve in the next five years. For Republicans, 70% said accessibility is not very likely or not at all likely to improve in the next five years, and a majority of independent voters (64%) agreed, according to the West Health-Gallup Poll results.

The poll involved 3,660 adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and was conducted Sept. 9-16.