KFF/EHF Poll: Texans’ Top State Health Priorities Include Lowering Out-of-Pocket Costs and Reducing Maternal Mortality
Texans' top health care priorities for the state revolve around making health care and prescription drugs more affordable, reducing maternal mortality and increasing access to health insurance coverage, finds a new statewide
Majorities say "top priority" should be given to lowering what people pay for health care (61 percent), reducing maternal mortality (59 percent), lowering prescription drug costs (56 percent), increasing access to health insurance (55 percent) and boosting funding for mental health programs (54 percent).
Nearly half (46 percent) of Texans say expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income Texans should be a top priority. At the same time, the poll finds that two thirds (64 percent) say that the state is not doing enough to help low-income adult residents get needed health care, and the same majority (64 percent) favor expanding the state's Medicaid program to cover more low-income adults.
Large majorities of
When asked about whether the state is doing enough to help other groups get needed health care, Texans are more mixed. Half say the state is doing enough to help children (50 percent) and pregnant women (50 percent), while fewer (42 percent) say the state is doing enough to help immigrants.
The poll finds that three in 10 (31 percent) correctly say that
The findings are from the first report in a series drawing on a new KFF/EHF survey of Texans on their views of and experiences around health policy and Medicaid. Future reports will examine health care costs, the experiences of Texans with private insurance, and women's health care.
When asked about state budget priorities overall, a majority (54 percent) of Texans say they favor increased spending on health care programs - fewer than say the same about public education (71 percent) and similar to the shares who want increased spending on infrastructure (55 percent) and public safety (52 percent).
Most Texans (60 percent) say Medicaid is important to their families, and the same share (60 percent) say the state's Medicaid program is working well for those low-income residents who are already covered by the program.
Overall, seven in 10 (71 percent) Texans report a personal connection to someone covered by the Medicaid program - including those who have personally received Medicaid assistance (31 percent), have had a child covered (11 percent), or have a close friend or family member who has been covered (29 percent).
Like Americans overall, Texans are also divided in their views of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Roughly equal shares of Texans hold favorable (48 percent) and unfavorable (47 percent) views of the law sometimes called Obamacare. In the latest national Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, 49 percent of Americans overall had a favorable view of the law and 42 percent were unfavorable.
Designed and analyzed by researchers at the
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