KFF Tracking Poll: More Than a Third of Americans Say They’ve Struggled to Pay Living Expenses Since December; 6 in 10 Families Hit by COVID Have Lost A Job or Income

The majority are in favor of provisions to expand the tax credits in the market and encourage states to expand Medicaid

While Congress is considering an additional $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, more than a third (37%) of Americans say someone in their household had problems in the past three months Pay the basic cost of living, according to the latest KFF Health Tracking survey.

This includes nearly 1 in 4 (23%) who report defaulting on their credit card bills and 1 in 6 who report having problems paying for groceries (17%) or with a rent or mortgage are in default (23%). 16%). Similar stocks say they have had health care issues, including paying medical bills (16%) or providing health insurance coverage (16%). More than half (55%) of households with an annual income of less than $ 40,000 report recent financial difficulties, as do about half of Black (51%) and Hispanic (49%) households.

These financial struggles enter the pandemic for more than a year and reflect the impact the pandemic has on people's incomes. Overall, 44% of adults say someone in their household has lost a job or income since last February due to the pandemic, including more than half of adults under the age of 50 and at least half of black and Hispanic households.

Families directly affected by COVID-19 were particularly affected. 61% of households diagnosed with COVID-19 said they lost a job or an income due to the pandemic, compared to 41% of households where no one tested positive.

"The COVID pandemic has hit many Americans hard financially, but the effects can be doubly gruesome if someone in the family gets COVID while suffering economically," said Drew Altman, CEO of KFF.

The poll found broad bipartisan agreement that Congress is not doing enough to help people who have lost a job or an income as a result of the pandemic. About three-quarters (73%) of the public, including similar proportions of Democrats (74%), Independents (73%), and Republicans (79%), say Congress is not doing enough. Much smaller stocks say Congress is doing about the right amount (18%) or too much (6%).

Partisan divisions stem from their assessment of President Biden's efforts to help people who have lost their jobs or incomes as a result of the pandemic. The overwhelming Republicans say he's not doing enough (71%) while the overwhelming Democrats say he's doing the right amount (66%). Independents are more divided, almost half (48%) say not enough and more than a third (37%) say about the right amount.

Most (62%) of the public are in favor of President Biden's treatment of the pandemic, twice as many as the disapproving (30%), albeit with large partisan divisions. Almost all Democrats (92%) and most Independents (60%) are in favor of President Biden's pandemic, while most Republicans (69%) oppose it.

The survey also finds broad support for two provisions in the House COVID-19 bill that aim to make health insurance more affordable by expanding tax credits for people who purchase their own health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and one financial incentives will be created for states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs to include more low-income adults to do so.

Expanding market subsidies is advocated by 69% of the public, including a small majority of Republicans (55%), while providing financial incentives to states to expand Medicaid is supported by three-quarters (76%) of the public, including most Democrats (93), support%), more than three-quarters of Independents (78%) and half of Republicans.

Most people continue to see the Affordable Care Act positively (54%), while 39% see it negatively.

When asked what the Biden government and Congress should do next about the 2010 law, half (49%) want them to build on what the law does and another 13% want them leave the law as it is. Fewer want Biden's government and Congress to roll back the law (8%) or repeal the law altogether (23%).

Partisans differ in these approaches: three in four Democrats want the Biden administration and Congress to build on what the law does (77%), while two-thirds of Republicans want the law to be scaled back (16%) or is canceled entirely (16%). 51%).

Designed and analyzed by KFF public pollsters, the KFF Health Tracking Survey was conducted February 15-23 among a nationally representative sample of 1,874 adults with random dial choices, including over-samples of adults who were black (507) or Spanish (506) are. . The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish by landline (339) and mobile phone (1,535). The margin of error in the sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the entire sample. Results based on subgroups may have a higher sampling error rate.