A new poll from the nonprofit health care research group KFF finds that voters are now focused on economic concerns, which doesn’t make them very happy.
Roughly two-thirds of voters rate the domestic economy as “not very good” or “poor” due to ongoing inflation and current rising costs of daily living, housing, and health care.
Even though the unemployment rate is low and the stock market has generally been up recently, “we found that economic concerns were at the top of voters’ lists, and health care costs played a big role there,” KFF said. Ashley Kerzinger said.
What people are most concerned about being able to afford is “unexpected medical bills and the general cost of health care services,” she says. She says, “Two-thirds of families who are having trouble paying their monthly living expenses say they worry about going into debt for medical and dental costs.”
Even though inflation has slowed, some health-related costs are still rising significantly, with hospitals, nursing homes, and dental care increasing by 5% to 8% year over year. Prices of over-the-counter drugs rose more than 9%.
And then there’s health insurance, said Andrea Ducasse of the Center for American Progress.
“Premiums continue to increase, and deductibles have really increased dramatically since the introduction of high-deductible health insurance,” she said.
A worker’s average annual premium for employer-paid family health insurance rose more than 7.5% last year to $6,575, according to KFF.
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