Americans’ Views on Who Influences Health Policy and Which Health Issues To Prioritize [REPORT]

Americans are in the midst of ongoing discussion and debate about which health issues are most pressing and who should play a role in addressing them. According to a new Pew Research Center survey, a solid majority of U.S. adults (69%) say health insurance companies have too much influence on public debates about health policy.

Of the eight groups and institutions we asked about in this survey – such as Congress, the general public and federal courts – health insurance companies are the one that a majority of Americans agree has too much sway in health policy. Just 9% say they have about the right amount of influence, and an equal share say they don’t have enough.

Although politics and health policy are often deeply entangled, this dim opinion of health insurance companies’ influence is an area of notable partisan agreement. Roughly equal shares of Democrats (including those who lean to the Democratic Party) and Republicans (and GOP leaners) express this view. Similar shares of Democrats and Republicans also say Congress has too much influence on health policy, although this view is less widely held than it is for health insurance companies.

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