On voters’ minds: health care access an important issue as election approaches

Getty images.

So many issues are up for debate as the November general election approaches, but polling of voters and observations by advocacy groups show that health care access is high on the list of issues motivating voters in Ohio and elsewhere this election season.

The national advocacy group Protect Our Care, which focuses on health care policy, has said expanded Medicaid coverage, pre-existing condition protections, preventive care and other things covered under the Affordable Care Act could change depending on how the elections go in November. The fact that health care access can be legislated federally and at the state level , along with being the subject of lawsuits that make it up to the U.S. Supreme Court, means elected officials at all levels of government impact the health care landscape of the country and state.

“It may not feel existential like the climate does, but if you’re a diabetic, it feels very existential,” said Leslie Dach, chair of Protect Our Care.

A June 2024 study by Hart Research, in partnership with Protect Our Care, showed 48% of the voters surveyed found the issue of health care “very important” as they look toward this year’s elections.

Of the health care priorities on voters minds in the study, lowering the cost of health insurance and the price of prescriptions were at the top of the list, followed by ensuring access to quality health care for all Americans.

Ohio took strides in increasing access to health care when the A ffordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion came to the state, with one study saying the lives of more than 1,400 Ohioans were saved in the four years following the 2014 expansion.

As of June 2024, the Ohio Department of Medicaid reported 789,783 Ohioans enrolled in the ACA Medicaid expansion, and 134,593 enrolled in the Medicare Premium Assistance Program (MPAP). The MPAP is a program used to help low income individuals who are not eligible for Medicaid, but for whom Medicaid pays their premiums in the separate Medicare program, according to the ODM.

The state department showed a total enrollment of 3,072,880 Ohioans in all the programs falling under its oversight.

As of February of this year, more than 477,000 Ohioans had obtained insurance as part of the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace Plan , an increase from 294,644 the year before.

The GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has previously talked about trying to repeal the ACA , nicknamed Obamacare, should he become president again.

President Joe Biden, having been the vice president when the Affordable Care Act came into existence, supports the measure and has called for extensions of subsidies set to expire next year.

Ohio’s U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno has criticized the program , while incumbent U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has consistently supported the ACA and has pledged to do more .

A recent Pew Research Center study found that 65% of Americans polled in April 2024 said the federal government “has the responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage.”

The partisan breakdown showed Democrats feeling overwhelmingly this way, with 88% of those identifying with that party putting the responsibility on the federal government, versus only 40% of Republicans. But the study showed Republican voter support has risen 8% since 2021.

In terms of the method of providing that health coverage, the Pew study showed 36% of those surveyed wanted a “single national program,” and 28% said it should be a combination of governmental and private programs.

Though some debate the use of the federal government as the purveyor of health care access for fear of “big government,” Dach said people support their tax dollars going to health care programs “because it’s clear to them.”

“There are expensive things that are no long expensive for people and it gets people to take their medicine and get their vaccines,” according to Dach.

The Protect Our Care chair said health care is a voting issue because it touches on not just health, but family economics as well.

“If anyone in your family is sick, it takes over your life,” Dach said. “If you live in coal country or tech country, it’s all the same, people desperately need it to be affordable.”

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST

The post On voters’ minds: health care access an important issue as election approaches appeared first on Ohio Capital Journal .