Voters Send Clear Message on Healthcare Costs That Washington Refuses to Hear

Clear Facts

• 36% of voters cite healthcare costs as a top concern, trailing only groceries and gas prices
• 70% of voters across all parties—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—support breaking up big health insurance companies
• 86% of voters are less likely to support candidates funded by health insurance companies

The drivers of the 2026 midterm elections are crystallizing, and voters are making their priorities unmistakably clear. While President Donald Trump plays a significant role as the sitting president, he’s by no means the only factor driving voter decisions. Once again, the economy holds center stage.

The media has branded this year’s form of economic concern the affordability crisis, and to some degree, that moniker fits. In that context, one expense is quickly emerging as the fastest driver of budgetary pain for millions of Americans: the unbearable rise in out-of-pocket costs of health insurance.

This issue is not about access to coverage. It’s about the rapid rise in the cost of coverage and the ever-shrinking nature of that coverage. The vast majority of voters are now certain that health insurance companies are taking advantage of them with price-gouging, vertical integration, and a lack of transparency, with next to nothing being done to stop it.

Today, voters are primed to reward candidates willing to fight back against the insurance giants with their vote. As pollsters who have tracked voter sentiment on ballot box issues for decades, we’ve observed that health insurance costs have cemented themselves as a primary driver of cost-of-living concerns this year.

In recent national polling, 36% of voters said healthcare costs were a top concern, trailing only groceries and gas. Of those top three concerns, healthcare costs are the area where our elected officials can make the most impact. Over the last 14 months, polling shows a dramatic increase in concerns over rising health insurance costs.

Voters in focus groups routinely tell us this is an area neither party is addressing. The disconnect between Washington and Main Street has rarely been more obvious. While both parties spend their time on political theater, American families are making impossible choices between essential medications and putting food on the table.

The voters are loud and clear on what they want the government to do. Overall, 60% say Congress should focus on health insurance companies to solve the problems affecting them the most, with majorities across party lines pointing their fingers in the same direction. Comparatively, 18% say they should focus on pharmaceutical companies, 8% hospital systems, and 6% on Pharmacy Benefit Managers.

Voters are looking for the federal government to go much farther in taking on health insurance companies with policies that punish them for shady practices. Over 90% support requirements to report insurance coverage denial rates and requiring transparency for drug mark-ups—telling patients what extra health insurance profits actually fund.

Similar shares support requiring insurers to cover all FDA-approved drugs so they can’t only cover the most profitable ones. They also support banning health insurance companies from cutting deals with the pharmacies and clinics they own—a clear conflict of interest that drives up costs for American families.

They don’t stop there. A whopping 70% of voters say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who wants to break up big health insurance companies.

What’s more telling is that it includes 70% of Democrats, 70% of Independents, and 70% of Republicans. That’s not a typo. In the age of hyper-political polarization, this issue is a bipartisan unicorn—a rare point of agreement that transcends party lines.

Being beholden to health insurance companies is as politically damning as any hit we’ve seen this election. Nationwide, 86% are less likely to vote for a candidate who was funded by big health insurance companies. The message from voters couldn’t be clearer: stand with us or stand with the insurance lobby, but you can’t do both.

The path to expanding coalitions of voters with real wins on healthcare and costs-of-living is out there. Standing up to big insurance companies and the politicians who have sold out to them is as politically ripe as any issue today.

When healthcare comes up in the halls of Congress or on the campaign trail, the voters will be listening, and they know what they want to hear. The question is whether Washington will finally listen to the American people or continue to prioritize corporate interests over hardworking families.

Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.