The 2024 elections are well underway, and we’re continuing to track insights voters are sharing about their priorities and the issues that matter most to them. To address the issues voters truly care about, candidates should look at the challenges with the broader health care system, like insurer and PBM practices and other barriers to care – not fixate on an issue that falls to the bottom of voters’ priority lists.
Here are four things you should know:
1. Issues like the economy are top of mind for voters.
- Eight in 10 voters say it is “very important” for 2024 candidates to talk about inflation (83%) and affordability of health care (80%) according to last month’s KFF Health Tracking Poll.
- Americans are also very worried about being able to afford unexpected medical bills (45%) and the cost of health care services (39%), according to the same KFF poll.
2. When it comes to health care, voters are concerned with harmful insurance practices and rising out-of-pocket costs.
- A strong majority (93%) of insured Americans think insurance should provide affordable access to health care while only a third (34%) think it currently does so, according to PhRMA’s recent Patient Experience Survey.
Like millions of Americans, we’ve had to fight against harmful prior authorization requirements just to get approval for the doctor-prescribed inhalers my son needs. Every year, we have to renew his prior authorization, and we are often forced to change medications back to ones that have already proven to be ineffective for him. This constant back-and-forth puts a tremendous strain on our family and makes it harder to maintain the care my son needs. – Caregiver, Jason Miller (Billings Gazette)
3. Focusing solely on prescription drug costs overlooks the real concerns voters have with their health care.
- Only 1% of voters say that prescription drug costs is the most important issue for candidates to discuss, trailing nine other issues, according to a December KFF Health Tracking Poll.
As an independent pharmacist, I enjoy serving the patients that come through my doors and connecting them with the critical medications they need. It is upsetting to see so many of these patients, members of my community, struggle to afford or even access their doctor-prescribed medications due to the unfair policies that insurers and their pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) enforce. – Pharmacist, Joey Entrekin (Times-Georgian)
4. Voters want policymakers to address harmful insurer and middlemen practices and protect access to medicines and treatments.
- 84% of adults agree that policymakers should focus on cracking down on abusive health insurance practices that make it harder to get the care they need, according to a Morning Consult/PhRMA poll.
- 83% of voters agree elected officials should ensure health insurance companies and other middlemen are held accountable for their role in keeping patients from the medicines they need, the same Morning Consult/PhRMA poll highlights.
Tom Wilbur
Tom Wilbur is Deputy Vice President of Public Affairs at PhRMA where he leads the state public affairs team and Voters for Cures, PhRMA’s grassroots advocacy initiative. Prior to joining PhRMA in 2019, Tom served as a senior aide on Capitol Hill for U.S. Rep. Fred Upton and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Tom holds an M.A. in strategic communications from Michigan State University and a B.A. in social science and history from Central Michigan University. He enjoys spending time with family and friends, volunteering, reading and golfing.
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