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In all, 62 percent of people surveyed said they would want to know
about a presidential candidate's plan for reducing healthcare costs,
according to the online poll conducted Dec. 14-18.
While Republican and Democratic candidates are worlds apart on how
to address healthcare, poll results show roughly the same proportion
of Republican voters, or 62 percent, view it as a priority compared
with 67 percent of Democrats, highlighting their frustration with
rising drug prices, insurance premiums and deductibles ahead of the
2016 vote.
The only topic that attracted more interest was national security,
as 67 percent wanted to know more about how presidential candidates
planned to keep the country safe.
Fifty-four percent wanted to know their plan for creating more jobs,
42 percent were interested in plans for education reform and 31
percent in how they would deal with climate change.
U.S. employers have been shifting more health coverage costs onto
workers, particularly through high deductible health insurance
plans, which can reach $6,600 in out of pocket costs for an
individual and $13,200 for a family before insurance kicks in. Many
of these changes have been ushered in with President Barack Obama's
signature healthcare law, as well as recent sharp increases in some
prescription drug costs.
"I'm on Obamacare, and it's a horrible situation," said Fred
Voeltner, 64, who was laid off in 2009 and now pays for his own
insurance. He is frustrated by how far he has to travel for care and
how much more he has to pay each visit. "I'm open-minded," he said.
"But I expect to vote for a Republican."
About 40 percent of people polled by Reuters/Ipsos said their
healthcare costs rose in the past year, compared with 46 percent who
said the costs were about the same and 13 percent who saw a decline.
More than 30 percent spent more on prescriptions than last year.
"The growth in out of pocket costs, especially the gradual growth in
deductibles, comes at a time when their wages are flat," said Drew
Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which
found that the average deductible for individuals was $1,318 this
year compared with $917 in 2010.
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Senator
Bernie Sanders of Vermont have vowed to remedy rising drug prices in
their campaigns. Republican candidates have emphasized plans to
repeal Obama's Affordable Care Act, which they blame for raising
premiums and other costs.
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"Premiums are going through the roof, deductibles are so high that
unless you're close to death you're not going to "I will go to
Congress and we will repeal every word of Obamacare," Republican
rival, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, told a crowd in Mechanicsville,
Virginia, on Friday.
Republican strategists said party candidates are more focused on
national security and the economy as dominant issues, noting they
have little to gain by offering a detailed plan to tackle healthcare
costs that could run up against major business interests, including
the pharmaceutical industry.
"Republican candidates generally stay between the guard rails of 'Obamacare
is bad and should be repealed' and 'We need to let the market work.'
More specificity than that will certainly produce consequences that
none of them want to discuss right now," said Republican strategist
Reed Galen.
During a debate on Saturday, Clinton credited Obamacare with
expanding benefits to 17 million Americans but said she would have
to fix some “glitches,” referring to the rising costs. Republicans
have since attacked her for trying to downplay the impact of such
costs on Americans.
Clinton proposed more oversight of health insurers, a $5,000 tax
credit for people struggling with medical expenses and allowing the
government's Medicare program for the elderly to negotiate for lower
drug prices.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,639 adults with a credibility
interval of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.
(Reporting by Jilian Mincer in New York and Erin McPike in
Washington, additional reporting by Emily Stephenson; Editing by
Michele Gershberg, Chris Kahn and Alistair Bell)
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