Health Care Is Top Policy Priority For Americans, Survey Finds

Health care tops the list of policy priorities for Republicans, Democrats and independents across the country, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at University of Chicago.

The researchers found that 47 percent of Republicans, 40 percent of Democrats and 43 percent of independents said health care is a top issue for them.

The study, published Friday, was conducted in the middle of December, 2016 and surveyed more than 1,000 adults.

Second place in the priorities list was taken by unemployment, mentioned by 37 percent of Republicans, 25 percent of Democrats, and 26 percent of independents. Around 20 percent of all people of any party mentioned the economy, broadly speaking.

According to the most recent numbers, the standard unemployment rate has fallen to a relatively low 4.7 percent; however, the workforce participation rate appears to be languishing behind the headline employment figures, which perhaps accounts for the public's continuing focus on this issue.

Read more: 7 Things You Didn't Know Obamacare Has Done

Immigration and education are the other two issues topping Americans' policy priority lists. However, on immigration, there's a big divide between Democrats and Republicans: only 15 percent of the former mentioned immigration in the survey, while 40 percent of the latter group brought it up.

"Our unique, open-ended format shows that the average American is concerned about a number of policy issues and wants the new government in Washington to work hard to address them," said Director of The AP-NORC CenterTrevor Tompson. "However, Americans are not very optimistic that much will be accomplished, especially for long-standing issues like poverty, racism, and the environment."

Read the full report here>>

Photo credit: Joshua Kehn