Voters Show Strong Bipartisan Support for Policies that Protect People from Medical Debt — Undue Medical Debt

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Voters Show Strong Bipartisan Support for Policies that Protect People from Medical Debt 

New Study — October 2025

A new study sponsored by Undue Medical Debt finds that 2024 voters across party ID (Republicans, Independents and Democrats) agree that healthcare is unaffordable and health insurance coverage is failing people.  

Many respondents are under intense economic stress, and the high cost of healthcare is adding to the pressure. An overwhelming majority of voters recognize medical debt as a real and persistent threat — even those not experiencing a financial burden. For this reason, there is broad bipartisan support for states to pass commonsense laws that protect people from medical debt and associated burdens when they access healthcare. 

The goal of this study is to identify common ground among people of all political affiliations and backgrounds when it comes to protecting patients from medical debt. PerryUndem, a non-partisan research firm, conducted a series of focus groups and a survey. The following are insights from this research. 

About the Study

The study involved a 12-minute national survey of 1,319 2024 general election voters. The survey was fielded online from August 21 to September 2, 2025, using NORC’s nationally representative AmeriSpeak panel. The margin of sampling error for total survey results is ± 3.63 percentage points. 

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Key Findings

Voter Experiences with Medical Debt and Healthcare Affordability

1

Voters across the political spectrum agree that healthcare is not affordable these days.  

  • Seven-in-ten voters (69%) believe healthcare is unaffordable, and this sentiment is shared across party ID (Figure 1).
  • This assessment is often based on personal experience. Many voters (45%) say they are struggling to afford common medical expenses right now, including dental care (32%), their deductible (27%), and any health insurance (20%). 

FIGURE 1
Do you think healthcare is affordable or not affordable these days? 2 

Not Affordable
Affordable
Total
69%
31%
Democrats
68%
31%
Republicans
66%
34%
Independents
72%
29%

2

More than one-third of voters (35%) currently owe money or have debt due to medical or dental expenses.  

Despite deep partisan divides, this is an area of commonality across party ID. This includes:  

  • Any medical or dental bills they are paying off over time directly to a provider (20%)  
  • Medical or dental bills they have put on a credit card and are paying off over time (17%)  
  • Medical or dental bills that are past due or that they are unable to pay (16%)
  • Any debt they owe to a bank, collection agency, or other lender that includes debt or loans used to pay medical or dental bills (16%)  
  • Any debt they owe to friends or family members for money they borrowed to pay medical or dental bills (9%) 

3

Over half of voters (52%) worry about going into debt when they use medical services — and this affects how and if they use services.  

More than one-third (35%) say they have adjusted their health behaviors due to fears about medical debt. This includes:  

  • Delaying or skipping care (22%) 
  • Skipping follow-up appointments and recommended treatments (15%)  
  • Experiencing physical pain because they delayed getting medical care (14%)  

4

More than anything else, voters say the hardest part of having medical debt is the mental stress and anxiety (57%).  

They also cite other challenges:  

  • Skipping and delaying necessary medical care (50%)  
  • Worrying about going back to doctors and hospitals where you owe debt (40%)  
  • Monthly payments to pay the debt down (36%)  

“[My medical debt] causes me not to even want to go [to the hospital]. Like I don’t even want to go. If I’m sick, I just won’t go.” 1

—White woman, 43, rural WV, uninsured

“[Medical debt] on your credit report stops you from accessing jobs sometimes, homes, car loans… so much gets in the way between you and the life you want to live because of medical [debt].”

—Black man, 35, urban TX, Marketplace coverage

5

Voters are experiencing these challenges at a time when over two-thirds (68%) are having to make sacrifices just to make ends meet.  

These sacrifices often come at the expense of their physical and mental health.  

  • Food is the first place they cut back, many saying they have had to eat less food or buy less expensive foods that are not as healthy (43%).  
  • Voters have also fallen behind on some bills so that they could pay other bills like rent or utilities (21%), taken on more hours at work or a second job (24%), put more expenses on credit cards (37%), and skipped vacations (40%) within the past year in order to meet their financial obligations. 

“I go to a food pantry and I work three jobs. You know what I mean? It’s hard, and it shouldn’t be that hard. I don’t have time to spend with my kids. I don’t have time to do things, because I have to work to eat, you know, and that’s what makes it hard for me.”

—White woman, 43, rural WV, uninsured

Voter Attitudes on Policy Solutions

6

Three-quarters of voters (76%) say they want their state to pass laws that would protect people from medical debt.  

This is true across party ID (Figure 2).

FIGURE 2

Do you want your state to pass laws to protect you from medical debt? 2  

Yes
No
Total
76%
23%
Democrats
91%
9%
Republicans
63%
36%
Independents
78%
21%

7

There is bipartisan support for a wide range of policies that protect people from medical debt.  

There is strong support among voters for limiting interest rates for medical debt, limiting the ability of collection agencies to take a person’s property, requiring hospitals to use the same, simpler applications for financial assistance, and setting limits on how much hospitals and insurers can charge for services (Figure 3). 

FIGURE 3

Support/oppose your state passing these laws to protect you from medical debt?

  By Political Party 
 Total Support Dem Rep Ind 
Limit the interest rate allowed to be charged for medical debt. 94 95 92 94 
Limit collection agencies’ ability to take a person’s house, belongings, or cars due to medical debt. 90 93 88 90 
Require all hospitals to use the same, user-friendly application for financial assistance. 89 94 84 90 
Pass laws to help people understand who is suing them for medical debt.  89 94 87 86 
States set limits on how much hospitals and insurers can charge for services.  88 92 85 87 
Limit the amount a patient would have to pay back on their medical debt in a year. 82 92 75 81 
Make it illegal for collection agencies to take money out of people’s paychecks for medical debt. 81 89 76 80 
Ban healthcare providers and collection agencies from reporting medical debt on people’s credit reports. 81 90 76 79 
Create a state-funded health plan that would give another health insurance option to state residents and is more affordable than commercial health plans.  81 94 72 79 
Require hospitals to provide financial assistance to all patients earning under 200% of poverty (about $53,000 a year for a family of three before taxes).  80 91 75 76 
Prevent use of prior authorization (a process where a health plan requires a doctor to obtain approval first) for some services (such as cancer or mental health treatment). 77 85 70 77 
Require hospitals to screen everyone – including people with insurance – for financial assistance before sending a bill. 74 82 67 74 
Raise the income threshold for Medicaid so that more people can qualify for insurance. 73 87 63 72 

8

Voters want their state elected officials to take action on medical debt 

  • The majority of voters (77%) say they would feel more positively about their state elected officials if they passed these kinds of laws.  
  • Another three-quarters (75%) would be more likely to vote for state elected officials who passed policies protecting residents from medical debt — 88% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans, and 76% of Independents say the same.  

9

Most voters see medical debt as a common ground issue.  

  • Nearly six-in-ten (57%) believe that people from different political parties want these kinds of protections from medical debt.  
  • The data shows that there is shared support for more state protections against medical debt, regardless of ideology. 

“I think [medical debt] is a political issue, but I think this is the issue that’s like a common ground issue between Democrats and Republicans. When it comes to health insurance companies and just the costs… it doesn’t matter, you know, what’s your political ideology. I feel like everybody’s frustrated with the system and everybody wants it to be better and everybody wants costs to be lower.”

—Black man, 28, urban FL, Marketplace cover age

Voter Attitudes on the Healthcare System and Health Insurance

10

Voters trust healthcare providers and hospitals more than any other actor in the healthcare system.  

  • When asked who they trust to look after their best interests, voters say healthcare providers (85%) and hospitals (78%).  
  • There is a steep drop-off when considering other actors in healthcare — just one-third or less say they trust health insurance companies (34%), drug companies (32%), private equity firms that own doctor practices (29%), or corporations that run large health systems (26%) to look after their best interests. Voters are wary of corporations prioritizing profits over patients. 

“I just feel like there is an uptick in corporate greed.”

—Black woman, 38, suburban TX, Marketplace coverage

“While we’re struggling, the CEOs are just filling their pockets, you know.”

Latino man, 42, suburban LA, employer coverage

11

Voters believe health insurance companies are most at fault for medical debt.  

  • They blame health insurance companies the most (63%), followed by pharmaceutical companies (12%) and hospitals (9%). Just 3% place the blame on doctors or patients.  
  • This is a point of alignment across party ID — 70% of Democrats, 62% of Republicans, and 59% of Independents say they blame health insurance companies the most for medical debt.  

12

Voters believe health insurance should protect people from medical debt — but they know this often isn’t true in practice.  

  • Most (84%) believe that having health insurance should protect people from medical debt — including 91% of Democrats, 78% of Republicans, and 84% of Independents.  
  • Yet three-quarters (74%) say that health insurance is “mostly failing” at this. And there is bipartisan consensus here, with 79% of Democrats, 66% of Republicans, and 77% of Independents saying the same.  

13

Two-thirds of voters (66%) say they are not satisfied with the current health insurance system in our country.  

  • This is true for majorities across party ID — 73% of Democrats, 54% of Republicans, and 71% of Independents are unsatisfied.  
  • Even among the minority who say they are satisfied with the current system (34%), just 3% are “very satisfied.” 

“I think [the health insurance system] is broken. [The cost] goes up every year and way beyond the rate of inflation or your cost of living, we just never seem to get a break. It just gets more and more expensive. Even when you look at the Marketplace, it seems like you just get less coverage, a higher deductible. Yeah, it’s very frustrating.”

—White woman, 56, suburban FL, Marketplace coverage

14

Voters are ready for an alternative.  

  • Three-quarters (76%) believe that “we need to switch to a different system of health insurance” that doesn’t tie coverage to employment. Majorities of Democrats (85%), Republicans (65%), and Independents (79%) agree.  
  • Just 22% of voters say our current system “works well enough and we should not change it.”  

15

They don’t consider high-deductible health plans a viable option.  

  • Seven-in-ten voters (70%) have an unfavorable view of high-deductible health plans.  
  • Just 29% say they would be likely to enroll themselves or their families in these kinds of plans — most (70%) would be unlikely. Democrats (73%), Republicans (70%), and Independents (67%) are similarly unlikely to enroll.  
  • While voters recognize the initial cost appeal of high-deductible health plans, they can also anticipate the kinds of risks associated with these plans. 

“I think [high-deductible plans] may actually backfire because people are going to want to pay the lower premiums, but then when they need to seek health care, they’re not going to do it, because they know that they can’t afford that cost out-of-pocket.”

—White woman, 50, rural IA, employer coverage

These findings show that voters are not satisfied with our current healthcare coverage system and especially recognize affordability as a key issue. This study also shows that there is broad bipartisan support among voters to advance state laws that protect people from medical debt and the associated financial burdens.   

1 The study also included four focus groups consisting of a diverse set of individuals who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 general election. The groups were held in March 2025. The focus groups included different kinds of Trump voters — younger voters, including younger men of color, and MAGA supporters. The quotes provided in this memo are from these focus groups.

2 Percentages may not always add up to 100% due to rounding.

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