ICYMI: Majority Of Voters Prefer To Build On What’s Working In Health Care Rather Than Start Over

HARTFORD – In case you missed it, the August 2021 edition of Voter Vitals – a nationwide tracking poll conducted by Locust Street Group for the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future – shows that the vast majority of voters prefer for lawmakers to build on our current health care system rather than start over by creating a new government-controlled health insurance system like the state government option or opening up Medicare to younger Americans. 

The survey also finds voters’ preference for current coverage options over new government health insurance systems is rising, as greater majorities of Americans report they would prefer to keep their current coverage rather than purchase the public option or Medicare coverage.

“The August 2021 edition of Voter Vitals demonstrates that an overwhelming majority of voters continue to be satisfied with their current health coverage and are unwilling to pay more – through higher taxes or higher health care costs – to create a public option or expand Medicare,” said Phillip Morris, Partner of Locust Street Group. “Voters’ preference for keeping their current coverage over purchasing the public option or Medicare coverage has risen since the previous edition of Voter Vitals, and voters continue to send policymakers a clear message that they prefer to build on and improve what is working in health care to lower costs and expand access to high-quality health coverage and care.”

Key findings of the survey include:

  • 76 percent of voters with health insurance coverage are SATISFIED with their coverage. 
  • 71 percent of voters are UNWILLING to pay any more for health care and 70 percent are UNWILLING to pay any more in taxes to create a new government health insurance system. 
  • A GROWING majority of voters aged 18 to 64 would rather keep their current coverage than purchase public option coverage (69 percent, +3 percent since May) or Medicare coverage (82 percent, +5 percent since May). 
    • The overwhelming majority of voters between the ages of 50 and 64 would rather KEEP their current coverage (82 percent) than purchase Medicare coverage (18 percent).
  • Support for new government-controlled proposals has DECLINED – including for Medicare Buy-In (52 percent support, -4 percent since May) and the public option (46 percent support, -3 percent since May).
  • 64 percent prefer BUILDING ON our current system rather than creating the public option, and 67 percent prefer building on our current system instead of opening up Medicare.
  • The vast majority of voters are CONCERNED about limiting access to quality care (71 percent), bankrupting the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund (67 percent) and increasing payroll taxes (67 percent) to expand Medicare or create the public option.

Methodology:

  • N=2,000 U.S. voters nationwide.
  • Balanced to U.S. demographics by gender, age, race, income, political ideology and health coverage.
  • Fielded online: August 6-12, 2021. 
  • Margin of error: plus or minus two percent.

To read Locust Street’s executive summary of the survey findings, CLICK HERE.

To read Locust Street’s complete survey analysis, CLICK HERE.

To read previous editions of Voter Vitals, CLICK HERE.