WASHINGTON (AP) — Most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more exorbitant as they make health insurance decisions next year and a government shutdown leaves future health care costs in limbo for millions, according to a up-to-date AP-NORC poll.
About 6 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” worried that their health care costs will rise next year, the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found — a concern that cuts across all age groups and includes people with and without health insurance.
Many Americans also have other health fears. The survey found that about 4 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” worried about not being able to pay for their health care or medications they need, not having access to health care when they need it, or losing or no longer having health insurance.
Medicare enrollees are already preparing for next year’s coverage, and sign-up deadlines for many other health plans are quickly approaching in November. Federal policy puts millions of people at risk of having health insurance premiums skyrocket or losing their health insurance altogether. The findings show that many Americans feel vulnerable to rising health care costs, with some expressing concerns about whether they have insurance at all.
Latoya Wilson, an independent care advisor in Lafayette, Louisiana, currently uses a health insurance plan through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace. But in the last two weeks, the 46-year-old has applied to more jobs than she has in her life, largely because she’s worried about rising premiums and wants the stability of employer-sponsored insurance.
“Even before these health care cuts came into play, I was having significant difficulty getting the care I needed this year,” she said. “Anything worse than what I already have is pretty scary.”
Health care remains significant to Americans as it takes center stage in Washington
About 8 in 10 U.S. adults say health care is “extremely” or “very” significant to them personally. Among them, around nine out of ten are Democrats and three quarters of Republicans, and health care is one of the top issues for Americans alongside the economy.
This widespread attention to the issue raises the political stakes at an already crucial moment for federal health policy in the nation’s capital.
The mega-bill signed into law by President Donald Trump this summer proposes more than $1 trillion in cuts to federal health care and food assistance over a decade, mostly by imposing work requirements on those who receive aid and by shifting certain federal costs to states. Republicans say the cuts would prevent people who don’t need assist from gaming the system, but the cuts would ultimately cause millions of people to lose health insurance coverage, according to projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
More pressingly, a gridlock in Congress over Affordable Care Act subsidies expiring this year has plunged the federal government into a gridlock that has dragged on for a fourth straight week with no end in sight. Democratic lawmakers want any funding bill they sign to extend the subsidies that have made ACA premiums cheaper for millions of people. Republicans in Congress have expressed willingness to negotiate the issue, but only after the government reopens.
In interviews, some Americans said they doubted government leaders would take the necessary action to address their health care concerns.
“It’s the job of the federal government to provide a better way of life for its people,” said Caleb Richter, a 30-year-old certified nursing assistant in Belleville, Wisconsin, who identifies himself as an independent caregiver. “Right now it just feels like they’re not trying.”
But the poll reveals a deep ideological divide over what role the government should play. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to believe that it is the federal government’s job to ensure that all Americans have health insurance. About 8 in 10 Democrats say this, compared with about a third of Republicans.
According to the poll, most U.S. adults disapprove of Trump’s handling of health care
Healthcare continues to be a weakness for Trump. Only about three in 10 U.S. adults approve of the Republican president’s approach to health care, which hasn’t changed much since September. Almost all Democrats disapprove of his approach, but so do about eight in 10 independents and about a third of Republicans.
Wilson, a Democrat, said she thinks Trump should “do things that impact the good of the group” when it comes to health care, including providing more care for working-class Americans.
But Michelle Truszkowski, a disabled veteran from Sterling Heights, Michigan, who is politically conservative, said she appreciates how Trump is focused on curbing fraud and abuse in the health care system.
“I like that people who shouldn’t receive any social benefits from the state are being thrown out,” said the 48-year-old. “Health care is not a right. It is a privilege.”
Democrats trusted health care more than Republicans, but many trusted neither
About four in 10 U.S. adults say they trust Democrats to do a better job on health care, compared with about a quarter who trust Republicans more. About a quarter trust neither party, and about one in ten trust both equally.
Americans are generally more likely to trust their own party when it comes to healthcare, but 76% of Democrats trust their party more when it comes to healthcare, while only 57% of Republicans have more trust in their party.
Independents are particularly likely to not trust either party on health care – about half of independents say this. But remaining independents are more likely to trust Democrats.
Wisconsin judge said he wishes Congress would give more trust and funding to hospital workers who know how to assist patients. He said he would be okay with paying higher taxes if it meant ensuring health care for people who need it.
But instead of working toward solutions, he said, federal lawmakers were acting “like a bunch of bickering high school kids.”
“My confidence that something will be done is very, very low at this point,” Richter said. “It just feels like they don’t care.”
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Swenson reported from New York.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,289 adults was conducted Oct. 9-13. A sample was used from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is intended to be representative of the US population. The overall sampling error rate for adults is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
