In his call to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, House Speaker Paul Ryan contended “there are two ways of fixing healthcare…have the government run it, ration it, and put price controls…[or] have a vibrant free market where people…go out in a free market place and buy the health care of their choosing.”
A new survey from the Cato Institute finds that 55% of Americans believe “more free market competition among insurance companies, doctors, and hospitals” offers the “better way” to provide affordable high-quality health insurance to people. In contrast, 39% say that “more government management of insurance companies, doctors, and hospitals,” would better achieve this goal.
Respondents sort themselves along partisan lines. A majority (62%) of Democrats including leaners think that more government management of insurance companies, hospitals, and doctors is the better approach to health care reform. In contrast, majorities of non-partisan independents (57%) and Republicans including leaners (84%) think free market competition offers a better alternative.
The divide between Republicans and Democrats widens as they attain higher levels of education. Fifty percent (50%) of Democrats with high school degrees believe that free market competition would better provide high-quality affordable health care. However, this share drops to 17% among Democrats with college degrees—a 33-point swing. The share of Republicans who believe free markets better deliver high-quality affordable coverage increases from 81% among those with high school degrees to 94% among college graduates. Non-partisan independents’ attitudes don't change much with education.
These results are consistent with the theory that partisans become more likely to learn about and accept partisan cues on health care policy as they gain more political information. Independents, on the other hand, feel less inclined to accept partisan cues regardless of their political knowledge.
This is not the only survey which finds Americans prefer a free market approach to reducing costs in health care. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 51% of Americans thought free market competition would better reduce prescription drug prices than government regulation (40%).
For decades Americans have debated how to best provide access to high-quality affordable health care. Some argue that health care markets operate differently and thus require more government management to ensure people get the care they need. Others contend that, just like in other sectors, injecting free market forces into health care would incentivize lower costs, increase quality, and expand access.
These results indicate public appetite for taking a new approach to health care reform: injecting free market forces into the system in order to provide access to affordable high-quality health insurance.
Survey results and methodology can be found here. The Cato Institute in collaboration with YouGov conducted two health care surveys online February 22-23, 2017. The first survey interviewed 1,152 American adults with a margin of error of ± 2.93 percentage points. The second survey interviewed 1,103 American adults with a margin of error of ± 2.85 percentage points. The margin of error for items used in half-samples is approximately ± 5.1 percentage points.