Health Care Could Be ‘Sleeper Issue’ for Congress as Elections Loom, NPR Reports

With elections approaching in November, health care could be a major "sleeper" issue in Congress this year, despite public opinion polls showing that it has "slipped somewhat" among voters' priorities, NPR's "Morning Edition" reports. Republican pollster Bill McInturff said that polls do not always reflect what Americans "really want" and that "if you scratch just below the surface ... something about health care is what they are personally most concerned about." Democratic pollster Celinda Lake said that even Americans with health care coverage are worried about their health security. Lake said, "People believe overwhelmingly that if they get another job they won't have health care benefits, that health care costs are going up and that their wages are not going to go up but their coverage is going to diminish if they keep their current job." Lake added that the issue of whether or not to add a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program is "most likely to take center stage" this year because "senior voters are a very big and powerful constituency. ... So watch for both parties to target senior voters with a health care message." Responding to suggestions that lawmakers "might shy away from" the Medicare drug issue because of its "huge price tag," McInturff said, "To the extent that there is any money left, you have to give it to somebody, and you're going to give it to the 22% of people over 65 who make up our electorate. Because, say what you will about the uninsured, they still register and vote in far lower numbers than people over 65, who are very, very upset about the price of drugs." Lake said that although health care is a "perennial" Democratic issue, both parties have "major incentives" to pursue health care initiatives "because it is one of the issues where Democrats have the biggest advantage." McInturff agreed that it is "precisely because" Democrats have an advantage on health issues that Republicans "must address them." McInturff said, "The political equation suggests that if I were a member of Congress running for re-election, I sure would want to deal with the issue of prescription drugs for seniors. I would want to say we did something, we made some first step." The full segment will be available in RealAudio online after noon ET (Rovner, "Morning Edition," NPR, 12/22).