Dive Brief:
- Monday's Iowa caucus results showed Ted Cruz in the lead for Republicans and Hillary Clinton in the lead for Democrats, putting them respectively ahead of opponents Donald Trump, who has spoken favorably about single-payer healthcare, and Bernie Sanders, who has made single-payer healthcare a cornerstone of his campaign.
- While most Republican candidates have continued to call for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, little has been discussed about how they would replace it.
- With Democrats typically voicing support for the ACA, they have little excitement to offer on the subject of healthcare with the exception of Sanders.
Dive Insight:
The Iowa results provide little indication as to how highly voters weighed healthcare issues in their decisions. The Republican lineup of Cruz and then Trump doesn't reveal much given that both have revealed vague principles about how they would handle health coverage. Cruz, however, recently specified interest in delinking health insurance from employment, letting insurers sell plans across state lines, and expanding health savings accounts.
On the other hand, experts credit Sanders' rally for single-payer healthcare for putting him almost neck and neck with Clinton, Modern Healthcare noted.
At the same time, the spirited debate over healthcare policy may have little practical effect if the findings of a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey play out in the real world. Among survey respondents looking toward the November presidential election, only 6% said healthcare policy was the primary factor in their choice for candidate. However, 28% said it was extremely important.