Healthcare Costs: What Voters Really Want Changed
Voters Want Transparency, Choice, and Control
Key Takeaways
76% of voters say healthcare costs are on the wrong track.
93% say it is important to have clear, upfront prices for healthcare services, including any fees not covered by insurance. 84% support requiring providers to give patients this information.
70% support universal access to Health Savings Accounts.
55% support redirecting Obamacare subsidies directly to patients rather than insurers.
Healthcare costs rank #2 among voters’ economic concerns, with 76% saying they are on the wrong track.
Recently proposed reforms receive broad support. 84% support strengthening price transparency laws by requiring healthcare providers to post clear, upfront prices, including fees not covered by a patient’s insurance, and 70% support giving every American access to a Health Savings Account (HSA), putting healthcare dollars directly in patients’ hands.
Why it Matters
Voters aren’t just frustrated. Bipartisan majorities are angry, aligned, and demanding action. On healthcare, the public has already reached a verdict: it’s broken and needs to be fixed.
This is a rare moment when overwhelming public demand and transformative policy opportunity are in perfect alignment.
Price transparency is the foundation of reform, with sustained support. In a May 2023 America’s New Majority Project survey, it commanded 85% support and holds at 84% nearly three years later. 93% say price transparency it personally important. This isn’t a flash in the pan, it’s a consistent call for reform.
How to Use This Data
Advocates should focus their healthcare messaging on accountability, transparency, and patient control.
Click on the image below to view the full data or read the summary below.
84% Support Price Transparency and Advanced Explanation of Benefits
This includes 90% of Republicans, 78% of Democrats, and 83% of Independents.
93% say clear upfront prices are important to them personally, including 96% of Republicans, 92% of Independents, and 91% of Democrats.
Among target voters, 79% of Unconverted MAGA voters and 88% of New Majority voters support price transparency.
70% Say Everyone Should Have Access to a Health Savings Account
This includes 79% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats, and 62% of Independents.
There is no divide by gender. 71% of women and 69% of men support universal HSA access and 75% of both say it’s personally important.
Overall, 76% say HSA access is personally important, including 81% of Gen Z, 81% of Millennials, and 78% of Gen X.
Among target voters, 68% of Unconverted MAGA voters support universal HSA access, and 76% of New Majority voters support it.
55% Say Cut Out the Middleman—Send Healthcare Dollars Directly to Patients
This includes 73% of Republicans, 43% of Democrats, and 49% of Independents.
66% say it is important that subsidies go directly to eligible Americans rather than to insurance companies.
Among target voters, 59% of Unconverted MAGA voters support direct subsidies, and 64% of New Majority voters support it.
What Voters Would Do with a Health Savings Account and Direct Subsidies
40% choose a savings-oriented approach (save or invest 33% plus catastrophic plus save 8%) versus 25% for comprehensive insurance.
Younger voters are 3 to 6 times more likely than older voters to choose catastrophic-only coverage.
When You Give Patience the Money, Demand to See Prices Increases
73% say price transparency becomes more important once voters control the money. This includes 81% of Republicans, 72% of Democrats, and 67% of Independents.
73% of swing voters say price transparency is more important once they control the dollars, and middle-class voters hit 73%.
The Bottom Line
Price transparency, direct subsidies, and universal HSA access are three proposals that work as one system.
When voters have control over their healthcare dollars through HSAs and direct subsidies, demand for transparent pricing doesn’t fade, it intensifies. Nearly three in four say it becomes even more important. Support holds across party, gender, generation, and class.
The logic is simple. Once the money is in their hands, voters behave like consumers, and consumers demand to see prices before they buy. This isn’t a platform to sell. It’s one voters are already waiting for.
What’s Next
Stay tuned—in the coming days, we will be posting more findings on health care reform, as well as data on support for apprenticeship programs in the United States.
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The conservative alternative to today's disastrous health insurance system (thanks, Obama) has been sitting in front of us for 33 years - the Consumer Choice and Health Security Act of 1993, authored by then-US Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK) with help from the once-great Heritage Foundation. With tweaks, it remains a model consistent with your polling. https://www.heritage.org/report/the-consumer-choice-health-security-act-s1743-hr-3698