Poll: More voters trust Clinton on health care

WASHINGTON -- From Medicare to medical costs, more voters trust Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to do a better job on health-care issues facing the nation, according to a poll out Thursday. But they're not holding out hope for big improvements.

The survey from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation also found the future of Medicare and overall access and affordability are the top health-care issues for voters. Neither of those is getting much attention in a campaign that has been dominated by questions of character and temperament.

On the basic pocketbook question, the poll found 36 percent of voters feared their own access to affordable care would get worse if Republican Donald Trump is elected, versus 24 percent who worried their own situations would worsen under Clinton.

Just over half said a Clinton presidency would not make much difference to their own personal access, while 37 percent felt the same way about Trump.

"Even though Hillary Clinton is trusted by more of the public on these issues, they have pretty low expectations that things will get better, no matter who wins," Kaiser polling chief Mollyann Brodie said. The foundation is not associated with health insurer Kaiser Permanente.

Clinton has played a prominent role on health-care issues for more than 20 years, since she emerged on the national scene as the leader of the failed effort to pass a bill providing health care for all in her husband's first presidential term.

She's a candidate of continuity, expressing strong support for Medicare, Medicaid and President Barack Obama's health-care law. She has proposed incremental improvements but no sweeping changes.

Trump's views on health care seem fluid.

He has said he wouldn't cut Medicare, and he won't stand for people "dying on the street," but his health-care plan is basically a collection of Republican talking points.

He'd repeal "Obamacare," and he has expressed support for a House GOP plan to limit Medicaid spending and turn the program for low-income people over to the states.

Both candidates have said they'd authorize Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

That puts Trump at odds with most Republicans, who see Medicare negotiations as nothing more than the government dictating prices.

Republican policy experts said they expect House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to take the GOP lead on health care if Trump is elected.

Ryan favors a major overhaul of Medicare for future retirees, gradually replacing open-ended government coverage with a limited payment beneficiaries could use for a range of insurance options.

Women's access to reproductive-health care accounted for the biggest trust gap between Clinton and Trump.

Sixty-four percent of voters -- and 71 percent of women voters -- said they trusted Clinton to do a better job.

The numbers for Trump were 28 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

On the future of Medicare, 53 percent of voters said they trusted Clinton, compared to 38 percent trusting Trump.

Voters age 65 and older were much more closely divided, with 47 percent saying they trusted Clinton and 44 percent trusting Trump.

The Kaiser foundation poll was conducted from Aug. 18 to 24 among a nationally representative random-digit dial telephone sample of adults that included 1,020 registered voters.

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for registered voters.