For the fifth year in a row, a Gallup poll shows Americans’ top concern is the availability and affordability of health care.
The latest annual poll results, released this morning, show 55% of Americans worry “a great deal” about health care. Following health care, the top concerns are: crime and violence (51%); federal spending and the budget deficit (51%); the availability of guns (51%); and drug use (45%).
The poll gauges how concerned the U.S. populus is about 14 key issues. This year’s results show Americans are least concerned about unemployment (with only 23% saying they have “a great concern” about it), followed by the availability and affordability of energy (25%); illegal immigration (34%); the economy (34%); and race relations (37%).
“Most often, race relations has been the issue Americans worry least about,” Gallup says. “However, that has not been the case in recent years, as concerns about the issue spiked after several highly publicized cases of deadly confrontations between police and young black males.”
When it comes to concerns about health care, Gallup says there’s a marked difference in opinions based on party affiliation.
“Democrats have typically worried more than Republicans about the issue, including a 72 percent to 39 percent difference this year,” Gallup says. “However, the party groups were about equally likely to worry about it between 2014 and 2016, after major provisions of the Affordable Care Act went into effect.”
The poll was conducted March 1-8 with a random sample of 1,041 adults aged 18 and older living in all 50 states. The margin of error is 4%. See the complete poll results.
