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KFF/AP Survey Probes Rural Voters’ Increasing Anxieties About the Rising Cost of Living, Including Health Costs, Heading into the Midterm Elections

The KFF/AP Rural Voters Survey examines the views and political priorities of voters living in rural areas across the United States ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The survey gauges rural voters’ top election issues, growing struggles with cost of living and health care costs, as well as views on the Trump administration’s health care policies.

The MIDTERMS

“...the search for a single top issue through polling questions — whether it’s health costs, or gas prices, or the cost of food — is artificial. People worry about and experience these costs together. There is no top issue, unless that issue is the catchall, ‘cost of living.’” — Drew Altman, KFF Founding President and CEO

Are Health Care Costs THE Top Issue for Voters?

In a new column, Dr. Drew Altman, Founding President and CEO, analyzes the polling on health costs as a voting issue and concludes that there is no one top voting issue. He writes: “I have come to the conclusion that the search for a single top issue through polling questions—whether it’s health costs, or gas prices, or the cost of food—is artificial. People worry about and experience these costs together. There is no top issue, unless that issue is the catchall, “cost of living.”

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  • Financial Incentives in the Long-Term Care Context: A First Look at Relevant Information

    Report

    Financial Incentives in the Long-Term Care Context: A First Look at Relevant Information This report reviews Medicare's payment policies as they may affect medical care for residents in long-term care environments, including a look at the financial incentives that could play a role in hospital and skilled nursing facility admissions. The report was prepared by Henry Desmarais at Health Policy Alternatives for the Foundation and released at an Oct. 12, 2010, policy briefing. Report (.pdf)

  • Section 9: Prescription Drugs and Mental Health Benefits

    Report

    Exhibit 9.1 Exhibit 9.5 Exhibit 9.2 Exhibit 9.6 Exhibit 9.3 Exhibit 9.7 Exhibit 9.4 Exhibit 9.8 9 There are fewer observations for estimating the average copayment for four-tier drugs compared to other drug types.

  • Online Tools for Consumer-Directed Health Plans

    Event Date:
    Event

    On Jan. 25, 2005, Kaiser Family Foundation hosted a demonstration of the online tools made available to enrollees in consumer-directed health plans. Executives from Humana and Lumenos -- two major firms in the consumer-directed care market -- conducted real-time demonstrations of their consumer web tools to show how enrollees might manage the costs and quality of their care. Consumer-directed, or consumer-driven, health plans are intended to give enrollees a financial stake in their health care…

  • 2003 Health Insurance Survey – Summary and Chartpack

    Report

    The 2003 Kaiser Family Foundation Health Insurance Survey examines the public's level of satisfaction with their insurance coverage, their expectations of health insurance, the role of costs and other factors in health insurance decision-making, and attitudes toward employer-sponsored coverage. It also explores people's opinions about several alternative health insurance plans that are currently under consideration and explores how they might respond to these new options. Summary and Chartpack (.pdf)

  • Cost of Health Insurance: Section 1 – Page 3

    Report

    Employer Health Benefits 2003 Annual Survey View All Charts for This Section Monthly Premium Costs of Single and Family Coverage In 2003, average monthly premiums for single and family coverage (including worker and employer share of premium) are $282 and $756 respectively (Exhibit 1.12). The cost of family coverage is now nearly $9,100 per year. Average monthly premiums for PPO plans, which cover most Americans, are $292 for single coverage and $776 for family coverage.…

  • Medicaid and Managed Care

    Fact Sheet

    This fact sheet provides an overview of the Medicaid program's increasing reliance on managed care to deliver services. Fact Sheet

  • Trends in Health Plans Serving Medicaid — 2000 Data Update

    Report

    An updated study follows trends in commercial health plan participation in Medicaid managed care and includes new analyses on the performance of Medicaid-dominated and commercial plans on measures of effective care and access to care, and on the extent to which plans restrict their Medicaid service areas.

  • Explaining Health Care Reform: What Is An Employer “Pay-or-Play” Requirement?

    Issue Brief

    To broaden coverage, some health reform proposals would require employers to offer coverage or pay to help finance subsidies for those without access to affordable coverage. These types of reforms are often referred to as “pay-or-play” policies. The brief explains the concept and policy implications of employer pay-or-play proposals, which can vary in terms of the level of coverage required for compliance, the cost of the penalty to employers who do not offer, and whether…

  • Public Views on Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising

    Poll Finding

    Mollyann Brodie, Kaiser vice president and director of Public Opinion and Media Research, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations about the public's views of prescription drugs, the pharmaceutical industry, and direct-to-consumer drug advertising. Brodie's testimony was a part of the hearing titled, "Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: Marketing, Education, or Deception?" Testimony (.pdf)

  • Key Findings: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — November 2009

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the key findings from the November Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted November 5 through November 12, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,203 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (802) and cell phone (401, including 112 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin…