A growing number of Republicans say they're satisfied with US healthcare costs - even as insurance prices have surged 20% in the past year

Joseph Zeballos-Roig

Dec 12, 2019, 22:52 IST

A growing number of Republicans say they're satisfied with US healthcare costs - even as insurance prices have surged 20% in the past year

A growing number Republicans are satisfied with the cost of healthcare in the United States, according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday.
The increase comes as another major index from the Labor Department showed average insurance prices spiking 20% over the last year.
The poll noted overall satisfaction with US healthcare costs is the highest since 2009 as just over one in four Americans are content with the healthcare pricing environment - though much of that boost was driven by the uptick in Republican approval.
It suggests that heightened partisanship is swaying Republicans on healthcare just as it has been on the economy, another issue where they are much more likely than Democrats to approve of President Trump's handling of it.
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An growing number of Republicans are satisfied with the cost of healthcare in the United States, according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday. The increase comes as another major index from the Labor Department showed average insurance prices spiking 20% over the last year.

The poll noted overall satisfaction with US healthcare costs is the highest since 2009 as just over one in four Americans are content with the healthcare pricing environment - though much of that boost was driven by the uptick in Republican approval.

The Labor Department's consumer price index, which tracks the average change over time in prices paid for goods and services, said the cost of overall medical care rose 5.1% since Nov. 2018. That measure also incorporates doctors' visits and hospital services.

The cost of health insurance had the biggest jump over the past year at 20.2%, representing one part of the broader healthcare industry. Other elements such as the price of doctors' visits and hospital services saw more modest increases at 1.4% and 3.3%, respectively.

It suggests that heightened partisanship is swaying Republicans on healthcare just as it has been on the economy, another issue where they are much likelier than Democrats to view the situation more favorably, the Pew Research Center said.

By comparison, only 9% of Democrats were satisfied with healthcare costs in the US, according to the Gallup poll.

Still, another recently-released Gallup poll showed both Democrats and Republicans broadly satisfied with what they pay for their own healthcare, though there was a notable dip in Democratic satisfaction and an increase among Republicans.

The cost of healthcare, though, continues to rise in the United States.

That's led to Democratic primary candidates to propose a variety of methods to reform American healthcare. They range from incrementally shoring up the Affordable Care Act and introducing an optional government insurance plan to enrolling every American into a government-run insurance system.

Trump has repeatedly promised to introduce another plan to replace Obamacare, but he hasn't done so yet.

House Republicans rolled out their own alternative in October, but it looks a lot like the unpopular "skinny repeal" version that was narrowly defeated by a single Senate vote in 2017. That one has almost no chance of becoming law before the 2020 election as it would have to pass the Democratic-led lower chamber.