Poll: Half of Calif. Voters Report Higher Health Care Costs in 2013

Fifty percent of California voters say that their health care costs have increased since last year and that such costs are difficult to afford, according to a Field Poll sponsored by the California Wellness Foundation, the Sacramento Bee reports.

The poll is the first of three health care-related Field Polls scheduled to be released this week. A poll examining voter views of the Affordable Care Act is expected to be released Tuesday.

Additional Findings

The poll found that 41% of respondents said they are paying about the same in health care costs as they did in 2012, while 5% said they have lower health care costs than last year.

In addition, 47% of respondents said that their health care costs are not difficult to afford.

The poll also found that:

• 72% of uninsured respondents said that their health care costs are difficult to afford;
• 71% of low-income respondents said that their health care costs are difficult to afford;
• Nearly 66% of respondents said that Medi-Cal -- California's Medicaid program -- is somewhat or very successful at meetings its goals; and
• 79% of respondents said that Medicare is somewhat or very successful at meeting its goals.

Comments

Mark DiCamillo -- director of the poll -- said that the uninsured and low-income respondents who reported having trouble paying for health care costs are "pretty much ... the target audiences" for the ACA.

He added, "It's a law that's intended to help those populations, so we will see" (Siders, Sacramento Bee, 8/19).