Concern Over Health Care Costs Spikes Despite Years of Obamacare

By Published on February 7, 2017

Health care costs are an ever-growing concern for most Americans, according to a new poll.

A quarter of Americans cite health care costs as their top concern — significantly higher than just two years ago — when only 15 percent of the population identified health care as their biggest financial problem, according to a poll by the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

That’s far above the next largest problem worrying Americans. Concerns about jobs and unemployment were only flagged by 14 percent of those surveyed, while 12 percent worried most about everyday household bills.

“The top three concerns were clustered together just two years ago,” Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement. “Now, health care has jumped to the top of the list as Americans grapple with balancing their household budgets.”

Overall, only 27 percent of Americans thought the federal government had helped with their top concern; 37 percent added that the government has hurt their ability to deal with it, according to Monmouth.

A recent CBS poll found that, for the first time since the law took affect, slightly more Americans view the law favorably than unfavorably. The same poll, however, found that 76 percent support the repeal of the law either immediately or with a replacement.

Under Affordable Care Act reforms, more Americans are covered through private insurance, including coverage sold on Obamacare exchanges with subsidies, or an expanded Medicaid program, but the cost of health care remains a problem for many.

The average cost of health coverage for families grew 3.4 percent in 2016, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation — growing more quickly than wages (which grew 2.5 percent) and inflation (1.1 percent).

Health insurance premiums for plans sold on the federal Obamacare exchange HealthCare.gov, which serves 39 states, rose an average of 25 percent for the 2017 open enrollment period.

The Department of Health and Human Services released an initial report showing that 400,000 fewer people signed up for health insurance on the federal website than in 2016.

 

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