Worries about medical bills weigh on voters' minds as election nears

Tom Zawierucha, 58, a building services worker successful New Jersey, wishes candidates would talk much astir protecting older Americans from large aesculapian bills.

Teresa Morton, 43, a freight dispatcher successful Memphis, Tennessee, pinch 2 teenagers, wants to perceive much astir really elected officials would thief moving Americans saddled pinch unaffordable deductibles.

Yessica Gray, 28, a customer support typical successful Wisconsin, craves alleviation from precocious supplier prices and aesculapian bills that person driven her and her hubby heavy into debt. "How overmuch are we going to pay?" she said. "It's conscionable thing that's ever connected my mind."

Health attraction hasn't figured prominently successful this progressively acrimonious presidential campaign. And the economy has mostly topped nan database of voters' concerns.

But Americans stay intensely worried astir paying for aesculapian care, nationalist surveys show. 

Two successful 3 U.S. adults successful a caller nationwide poll by West Health and Gallup said they're concerned a awesome wellness arena would onshore them successful debt. A akin stock said wellness attraction isn't getting capable attraction successful nan campaign.

To amended understand voters' wellness attraction concerns arsenic nan 2024 run nears an end, KFF Health News worked pinch research patient PerryUndem to convene a brace of attraction groups past week pinch 16 group from crossed nan country. PerryUndem is simply a nonpartisan patient based successful Washington, D.C., that studies nationalist views connected wellness attraction and different issues.

The attraction group participants represented a wide swath of nan electorate, pinch immoderate favoring Republican candidates, and others Democrats. But astir each shared a communal complaint: Neither statesmanlike campaigner has talked capable astir really they'd thief group struggling to salary for aesculapian care.

"You don't really perceive thing overmuch astir wellness attraction costs," said Bob Groegler, 46, who useful successful residential financing successful eastbound Pennsylvania. Groegler said he's worried he whitethorn ne'er beryllium capable to discontinue because he won't person capable money to salary his aesculapian bills.

Former President Donald Trump, nan Republican nominee, hasn't offered a elaborate health attraction agenda, though he criticizes existent laws and said he has "concepts of a plan" to amended nan 2010 Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare.

Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, has laid retired much elaborate health attraction proposals, including building connected authorities signed by President Joe Biden to little patients' bills. 

In 2022, Biden signed nan Inflation Reduction Act, which limits really overmuch Medicare enrollees must salary out-of-pocket for medicine drugs, including a $35 monthly headdress connected insulin. The authorities besides provides further national assistance to thief Americans bargain wellness security done nan Affordable Care Act, though this assistance will expire unless Congress and nan president renew it adjacent year.

Harris has said she will grow nan assistance and push for new assistance to Medicare enrollees who request location care. She besides has pledged to proceed national efforts to relieve aesculapian debt, a nationwide problem that burdens astir 100 cardinal people. 

But astir of nan attraction group participants said they knew small astir these proposals, complaining that hot-button issues for illustration abortion person dominated nan campaign.

Many besides expressed heavy skepticism that either Harris aliases Trump would do overmuch to lighten nan load of aesculapian bills.

"I judge they're retired of touch pinch our reality," said Renata Bobakova, 46, a coach and mother extracurricular Cleveland. "We ne'er cognize erstwhile we'll get sick. We ne'er cognize erstwhile we'll autumn down aliases sprain an ankle. And prices really tin beryllium astronomical. … I'm perpetually worried astir that."

Bobakova, who is from Slovakia, said she went backmost to Europe to springiness commencement to her girl 10 years agone to debar crippling aesculapian indebtedness she knew she'd incur successful this country. Parents pinch backstage wellness sum look connected mean more than $3,000 successful aesculapian bills related to a gestation and childbirth that aren't covered by insurance.

Other attraction group participants said they aliases group they knew had near nan state to get cheaper medicine drugs. The U.S. has nan highest aesculapian prices successful nan world, research shows.

Several attraction group participants, specified arsenic Kevin Gaudette, 64, a retired semiconductor technologist successful North Carolina, blamed ample hospitals, supplier companies, and insurers for blocking efforts to little patients' costs to protect their profits. "I deliberation everybody has their digit successful nan pie," Gaudette said. 

Martha Chapman, 64, who is besides retired and lives successful Philadelphia, pointed to what she called "corporate greed." "I conscionable don't deliberation it's going to change," she said.

In nan closing days of nan campaign, that cynicism represents a peculiar problem for Harris, said PerryUndem co-founder Michael Perry, who led nan 2 attraction groups. 

Harris has tried to separate herself arsenic nan campaigner who is much superior astir argumentation and much sympathetic to voters' economical struggles, Perry said. And successful caller weeks, she's begun airing caller ads highlighting wellness attraction issues.

But moreover attraction group participants who said they thin Democratic seemed to blasted some candidates for not addressing Americans' wellness attraction concerns. "They're not emotion listened to," Perry said.

Many of nan participants nevertheless continued to definitive dream that an rumor arsenic important arsenic wellness attraction would someday get nan attraction of elected officials, sloppy of governmental party. 

"We're each quality beings here. We're each group conscionable trying to make it," said Zawierucha, nan building services worker successful New Jersey. "If we get sick aliases person to spell successful and get thing done, we should person that bid of mind that we tin spell successful location and not person to interest astir paying it disconnected for nan adjacent 20 years."

"Just springiness america immoderate bid of mind," he said.

KFF Health News is simply a nationalist newsroom that produces in-depth publicity astir wellness issues and is 1 of nan halfway operating programs at KFF — nan independent root for wellness argumentation research, polling and journalism.

In:
• Medical Debt
• 2024 Elections