Red or Blue: Consumer Health Care Issues Are a Winning Midterm Message

By Jason Resendez , on May 3, 2018

Read the full Op-Ed on Morning Consult.

In today’s polarized democracy, so many aspects of daily life are far too politicized – and few issues more so than health care.

A new survey reveals, however, that Americans on all sides of the aisle – Democrats, Republicans and Independents – are surprisingly aligned on the problems with our current health care system. Namely, we all worry more about paying for health care than we worry about other major life costs, including those associated with retirement (73 percent), higher education (73 percent), housing (66 percent) or child care (49 percent). …

Specifically, two-thirds of Americans think their doctor factors in their insurance type when determining treatments, and more than half say their doctor’s treatment options are limited by what their insurance will cover. African-Americans (72 percent) and Hispanic Americans (75 percent) are even more likely than white Americans (61 percent) to say their doctor factors in their insurance type when deciding how to treat them and that the doctor’s options are limited by their insurance coverage (65 percent of African Americans, 66 percent of Hispanic Americans, and 57 percent of white Americans).

Furthermore, one in six Americans report having at least one occurrence within the last two years when they needed health care but were not able to receive it. This raises important questions about what kind of access to care consumers are actually getting from their insurance.