US voters rank ‘healthcare’ as ‘second most important issue’ following economy

A new analysis of 37 national opinion polls conducted by 17 survey organizations finds that health care is the 'second most important issue' for likely voters in America in deciding their 2012 US presidential vote.

When likely voters were asked to choose from a list of issues, similar to the approach used in election-day exit polls, one in five (20%) named "health care and Medicare" as the most important issue in their 2012 voting choice, after the issue of "economy and jobs" (cited by 51%), marking the 'highest rank' that health care has got as a presidential election issue since 1992.

"The economy dominates most voters'' thinking in terms of their priorities for choosing a candidate," said Robert J. Blendon, Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at Harvard School of Public Health and Co-author of the analysis, which would appear as an online Special Report on October 10, 2012 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"But in a close election, the two candidates'' stands on health care issues could help swing the balance among some voters," he added.

According to the analysis, likely voters who said "health care and Medicare" will be the most important issue in deciding their presidential vote, were much more supportive of Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA) than Mitt Romney's 'Medicare' programme.

The analysis found that an average of current polls show that 44 percent of Americans approve of the ACA, as opposed to the 45 percent disapproving it.

However, among likely voters who said "health care/Medicare was the most important issue in their voting choice," 41 percent said that they were much less likely to vote for a candidate who supported repealing all or part of the ACA while 14 percent said they were much more likely to vote for such a candidate.

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