Voters Favour Biden On Issues Related To Health And Social Security

A new KFF Health Tracking Poll has found that, “President Biden has a clear trust advantage over former President Trump with independent voters, a key voting group, on many areas of health care.”

• KFF reports: “…when it comes to addressing high health care costs... Biden has an advantage over Trump (39% v. 26%), with 34% of independent voters saying they trust neither candidate on this issue.”
• The report notes: “Regarding abortion policy... a majority of voters (62%) support guaranteeing a federal right to abortion while fewer (42%) support leaving it up to individual states to decide the legality of abortion.”
• On welfare programmes, "majorities of voters are worried that, in the future, people covered by Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid won’t be able to get the same level of benefits that are available today…”
• The survey results may provide a boost for Biden who is struggling with major vulnerabilities on the economy, immigration, and policy in the Middle East. A Pew survey in March found that 'reducing health care costs' was the fourth highest policy priority for voters for 2024.
• Recent speeches have seen Biden moderate positive assessments of the economy in favour of renewed warnings that Trump would poses a threat to social entitlement programs.
• The DNC said in a statement on May 6: “The American people know that a vote for MAGA Republicans is a vote to end Social Security and Medicare as we know them...”

Figure 1: “Which candidate for president do you trust more to do each of the following?”