Poll: Health care named top issue for voters, rises from last year

Health care remains the top concern for voters, even more so than a year ago, according to a new Hill/HarrisX poll.

The Feb. 23-24 survey found 18 percent of voters named health care as their top concern, compared to 15 percent who said the same in a May poll. 

The economy is ranked the second top concern among voters overall, at 13 percent, up 4 points from last year. Concerns over national security has also risen from 8 percent in May of 2019 to 11 percent this year.

Voters are about as concerned over climate change as they were a year ago, at 8 percent, while 7 percent of respondents named corruption as their top concern, a 3-point jump from last year.

Immigration is one area where concern has slid. Last May, it was the second most concerning issues among voters after health care, at 10 percent. This year, that dipped to 7 percent.

The survey found some significant splits among demographics.

Women were 6 percentage points more likely than men to name climate change as a top issue, at 11 percent and 5 percent, respectively. 

Younger voters were more likely to name the economy as their top issue than older voters.

Democrats and independents both named health care as their top issue, at 24 and 20 percent, respectively. Republicans, on the other hand, named terrorism and national security their top issue, at 16 percent.

Health care has been the fore-front of national conversation during the 2020 Democratic primary season. The White House hopefuls have been introducing a range of proposals to improve on the issue, including progressive calls for “Medicare For All.”

The Hill-HarrisX poll was conducted online Feb. 23-24 among 1,037 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. 

—Gabriela Schulte