Debate Discussion of Health Costs Was Mostly Absent
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) emerged as an 11th hour debate topic, but neither candidate addressed the health care issue voters want to hear about
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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) emerged as an 11th hour debate topic, but neither candidate addressed the health care issue voters want to hear about
A look at public opinion about the ACA and its provisions, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions and the impact of the law on families.
Once Republicans in Congress get specific about Medicaid cuts, it will become more tangible and clearer who will be affected. Changes to the status quo in health care rarely get more popular when the details get filled in.
Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, this KFF issue brief examines the role health care has played in previous elections and what that may suggest about its potential role in 2026. KFF polls have consistently found that the cost of health care is an important part of voters’ economic concerns.
Prior KFF analysis allocated CBO’s federal Medicaid spending reductions and enrollment losses across the states, and this policy watch builds on that analysis to examine the potential impacts in expansion states compared with non-expansion states.
In his latest column, President and CEO Drew Altman discusses how, with nearly half, or about 10 million MAGA supporters and Republicans receiving coverage through the ACA Marketplaces, the policy changes and cuts being considered by Republicans to the Marketplaces will directly affect their own voters. Altman writes: "Republicans are no longer interested in repealing the ACA but seem comfortable shrinking it significantly if they can, so long as they don’t touch protections for pre-existing…
Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federally funded health coverage. The GOP’s Big Beautiful Bill didn’t change that. Overturning the health care provisions in the law won’t either.
Despite [Republicans’] victories, there are signs in the polling that voters are not necessarily aligned with some of the policies Republicans may pursue when it comes to health care.
In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman discusses the history of the battles over the ACA’s provisions that were designed to expand coverage for the uninsured, which helps explain the effort to cut federal funding for the Medicaid expansion today. The real underlying issues, he says, are the same divisions that have always plagued the debate about covering the uninsured.
With the incoming Trump administration and Republican-led Congress looking to ways to reduce federal spending, this Poll finds that the Medicare and Medicaid programs remain broadly popular, and more people favor more spending on those programs than less spending. Among potential actions on health, the public sees price transparency and limiting chemicals in food as top priorities. Few say so about cuts to Medicaid and restrictions on abortion.
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