The One Cost Voters Keep Thinking About

The vast majority of Americans are worried about insurance costs surging in 2026, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll released Monday.

The latest survey shows that 72% of respondents feel either very or somewhat concerned about their insurance costs potentially increasing this year. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed say they would be very or somewhat likely to look for a new health plan this year due to soaring costs.

Roughly half of U.S. adults say measures aiming to boost drug and health insurance affordability will likely sway which candidates they vote for in this year’s midterm elections, the poll shows. More than 6 in 10 Americans said they back direct-to-consumer drug sales that could bring down certain out-of-pocket costs.

“Americans are concerned about the cost of healthcare, and they are looking to the government and their elected officials to alleviate the burden — and soon,” Ipsos Vice President for U.S. Public Affairs Mallory Newall said, Axios reported.

“Anytime you hear ‘lowering costs,’ it’s enough for most Americans to support an initiative even if they’re not familiar with the ins and outs of the issue,” Newall continued.

The poll’s release comes as many Americans have become increasingly concerned about rising healthcare costs nationwide. A Gallup poll released in March found that about one-third of respondents reported having made at least one trade-off with daily living expenses to afford medical care.

Family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance reached an average of $26,993 in 2025, according to estimates from KFF. Many Democrats have been prioritizing healthcare costs as a key issue ahead of this year’s midterms, the AP reported in February.

President Donald Trump unveiled a new “Great Healthcare Plan” in January which aims to “slash prescription drug prices, reduce insurance premiums, hold big insurance companies accountable, and maximize price transparency in the American healthcare system.” The president also announced in May that his administration is expanding its direct-to-consumer drug platform, TrumpRx.gov, in an effort “to provide unprecedented price transparency and choice on generic medications that millions of Americans use every day.”

The Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted June 12-15, by Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel® and based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,189 U.S. adults. The poll’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.