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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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  • Toplines: Health Care in America 2006 Survey

    Poll Finding

    These toplines provide the complete survey questions and findings from the 2006 survey on Health Care in America conducted jointly by ABC News, the Kaiser Family Foundation and USA Today between Sept. 7 and 12, 2006. The survey examines Americans’ views and experiences related to health care costs and quality, as well as their attitudes toward possible policy solutions. Toplines (.pdf)

  • The Public’s Health Care Agenda for the New Congress and Presidential Campaign, December 2006

    Poll Finding

    This Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health National Survey looks at the public's priorities and views on health issues as a new Democratic majority takes the leadership of Congress and as the 2008 presidential campaign begins to take shape. It focuses, in particular, on differences and similarities among Democrats, Republicans, and those who identify themselves as Independents or something else. The poll, conducted November 9-19, 2006, by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard…

  • 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)

  • Pieces of the Puzzle

    Report

    A new report describes the Report to Congress by the Department of Health and Human Services on consumer protection and quality assurance requirements for Medicaid managed care and discusses the differences between the original Federal rule and the revised one. Report Executive Summary  

  • National Survey on Consumers’ Experiences With Patient Safety and Quality Information — Summary and Chartpack

    Poll Finding

    National Survey on Consumers' Experiences With Patient Safety and Quality Information -- Summary and Chartpack This chartpack summarizes key findings from a national survey assesses Americans' perceptions about the quality of health care, their awareness and reported usage of information in making their health care choices, and their experiences with their health care providers five years after the Institute of Medicine's landmark report on medical errors. The Kaiser Family Foundation, the Agency for Healthcare Research…

  • Chartpack: The Public’s Health Care Agenda

    Poll Finding

    These charts highlight data from The Public’s Health Care Agenda for the New Congress and Presidential Campaign, conducted jointly by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health between November 9 and 19, 2006. The survey looks at the public’s priorities and views on health issues as a new Democratic majority takes the leadership of Congress and as the 2008 presidential campaign begins to take shape. Chartpack (.pdf)

  • USA Today/Kaiser/Harvard Survey Highlights Problems in the Health Care System Through the Experiences of People With Cancer

    Poll Finding

        Embargoed for release until:Monday, November 20, 2006   For further information contact:Craig Palosky, cpalosky@kff.org or (202) 347-5270Larry Levitt, llevitt@kff.org or (650) 854-9400     USA Today/Kaiser/Harvard Survey Highlights Problems in the Health Care System Through the Experiences of People With Cancer Survey of Families Affected by Cancer Shows People With and Without Health Insurance Often Suffer Serious Financial Hardships A major national survey of people affected by cancer provides an in-depth examination of…

  • Pulling it Together: When Premiums Go Up 39%

    Perspective

    Our group that works on health care cost issues just updated an analysis that sheds light on what’s really happening to people in the individual health insurance market, the issue Secretary Sebelius, a former Kansas insurance commissioner, and others have put in the spotlight by calling on Anthem and other insurance companies to account for their proposed high premium increases. The analysis shows that people buying health insurance on their own in the individual market…

  • Rate Review: Spotlight on State Efforts to Make Health Insurance More Affordable

    Other Post

    The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act creates a new federal role to examine “unreasonable increases” in the premiums charged for certain individual and small group health plans. Under the health reform law, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will work with state insurance departments to conduct an annual review of unreasonable rate increases, and insurers must provide justification for such increases to HHS and to the public via their websites. The…