Chapter 4.4
Health care
In the American National Election Studies, the share on the government side of the health insurance scale was 24.4 points higher among Democrats than Republicans in 1970 and 46.6 points higher in 2024.
In 1970, long before the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the American National Election Studies (ANES) asked Americans to place themselves on a seven-point scale from a government insurance plan covering all medical and hospital expenses to private insurance. The Democratic share choosing a point on the government side exceeded the Republican share by 24.4 (95% CI 18.6 to 30.2)24.4 percentage pointsEstimandweighted Democratic share minus weighted Republican share; the ANES seven-point government against private health insurance scale (VCF0806), answers 1 to 3 (the government side)Interval95% CI 18.6 to 30.2n1,112Weightsweight (VCF0009z)PopulationDemocratic and Republican identifiers (leaners included) who answered the ANES government health insurance questionPeriod1970SourceANES Cumulative Data File pointsPercentage pointThe unit for the difference between two percentages. A change from one share to another is stated in points, not in percent, so that absolute and relative change are not confused., and in 2024 the gap was 46.646.6 percentage pointsEstimandweighted Democratic share minus weighted Republican share; the ANES seven-point government against private health insurance scale (VCF0806), answers 1 to 3 (the government side)Interval95% CI 42.8 to 50.4n4,489Weightsweight (VCF0009z)PopulationDemocratic and Republican identifiers (leaners included) who answered the ANES government health insurance questionPeriod2024SourceANES Cumulative Data File points.Democrats and Republicans include independents who say they lean toward a party, the leanersPartisan leanerA respondent who first says they are independent but, when asked, says they lean toward one party. Most figures group leaners with the party they lean toward, and each chapter says which grouping it uses., throughout this essay. Independents are the respondents who lean toward neither. The party difference over government insurance is older than the law. Views of the ACA itself were measured only after it passed, in another survey, as a separate series.
The parties differed before 1993 and more after 2010
The gap is the Democratic share on the government side minus the Republican share, in points. The government side is the answers nearest the government plan, short of the midpoint, which stays in the denominator. The ANES gap's interval lies above zero in 1970 and in every study since, so the parties did not start from agreement. The General Social Survey (GSS) asks instead whether the government in Washington should help people pay for doctors and hospital bills. Its gap also lies above zero in every survey from 1975 to 2024 and was 4342.5 percentage pointsEstimandweighted Democratic share minus weighted Republican share; the GSS question on whether government should help pay for medical care (helpsick), answers 1 and 2 (the government side)Interval95% CI 36.1 to 48.9n1,538Weightsweight_use (wtssnrps from 2004)PopulationDemocratic and Republican identifiers (leaners included) who answered the GSS question on government help paying for doctors and hospital billsPeriod2024SourceGeneral Social Survey points in 2024.
Two dates are marked on the charts. President Clinton's health plan was proposed in 1993 and did not pass Congress in 1994 [1], and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law in March 2010 [2]. Pooling the ANES studies into three periods split at those dates, the gap changed by +6.2 (95% CI 2.8 to 9.6)+6.2 percentage pointsEstimandchange in the pooled weighted party gap between windows (Before 1993 to 1993 to 2009; two separate sets of surveys); the ANES seven-point government against private health insurance scale (VCF0806), answers 1 to 3 (the government side)Interval95% CI 2.8 to 9.6n14,833Weightsweight (VCF0009z), rescaled to average one within each survey year before years are combinedPopulationDemocratic and Republican identifiers (leaners included) who answered the ANES government health insurance questionPeriodANES 1970-1992 to 1994-2008SourceANES Cumulative Data File points from the studies of 1970 to 1992 to those of 1994 to 2008. From that middle period to the studies of 2012 to 2024 it changed by +16.2 (95% CI 13.0 to 19.4)+16.2 percentage pointsEstimandchange in the pooled weighted party gap between windows (1993 to 2009 to 2010 and after; two separate sets of surveys); the ANES seven-point government against private health insurance scale (VCF0806), answers 1 to 3 (the government side)Interval95% CI 13.0 to 19.4n24,719Weightsweight (VCF0009z), rescaled to average one within each survey year before years are combinedPopulationDemocratic and Republican identifiers (leaners included) who answered the ANES government health insurance questionPeriodANES 1994-2008 to 2012-2024SourceANES Cumulative Data File points. The second change is larger than the first, and the two intervals do not overlap. In both series the point estimate of every survey from 2010 on is larger than that of any survey before 1993.
Figure 1
The party gap on government's role in health care was above zero in every survey that asked about it and larger after 2010 than before 1993
Democratic minus Republican share on the government side (ANES, GSS help) or saying we spend too little (GSS spending), party identifiers including leaners, 1970 to 2024; 95% intervals
Democratic minus Republican gap (points)
Show data
| Survey and answer | Year | Gap (points) | Lower | Upper | Respondents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANES: government plan | 1970 | 24.4 | 18.6 | 30.2 | 1,112 |
| ANES: government plan | 1972 | 18.8 | 12.5 | 25.0 | 959 |
| ANES: government plan | 1976 | 24.2 | 19.3 | 29.2 | 1,494 |
| ANES: government plan | 1978 | 25.1 | 20.3 | 29.8 | 1,596 |
| ANES: government plan | 1984 | 16.8 | 9.7 | 23.9 | 688 |
| ANES: government plan | 1988 | 22.7 | 17.9 | 27.5 | 1,512 |
| ANES: government plan | 1992 | 30.2 | 25.8 | 34.5 | 1,873 |
| ANES: government plan | 1994 | 30.7 | 25.6 | 35.9 | 1,470 |
| ANES: government plan | 1996 | 31.0 | 25.7 | 36.3 | 1,402 |
| ANES: government plan | 2000 | 24.4 | 17.1 | 31.6 | 822 |
| ANES: government plan | 2004 | 32.6 | 26.2 | 39.1 | 991 |
| ANES: government plan | 2008 | 32.1 | 24.3 | 39.9 | 914 |
| ANES: government plan | 2012 | 41.9 | 38.7 | 45.1 | 4,760 |
| ANES: government plan | 2016 | 39.8 | 36.2 | 43.4 | 3,294 |
| ANES: government plan | 2020 | 54.0 | 51.3 | 56.7 | 6,577 |
| ANES: government plan | 2024 | 46.6 | 42.8 | 50.4 | 4,489 |
| GSS: government should help | 1975 | 17.1 | 10.8 | 23.4 | 1,236 |
| GSS: government should help | 1983 | 27.0 | 20.5 | 33.5 | 1,348 |
| GSS: government should help | 1984 | 17.3 | 10.3 | 24.2 | 1,235 |
| GSS: government should help | 1986 | 21.4 | 15.3 | 27.5 | 1,233 |
| GSS: government should help | 1987 | 16.8 | 10.7 | 22.9 | 1,565 |
| GSS: government should help | 1988 | 11.8 | 4.4 | 19.3 | 857 |
| GSS: government should help | 1989 | 16.4 | 9.1 | 23.8 | 872 |
| GSS: government should help | 1990 | 12.9 | 5.1 | 20.7 | 771 |
| GSS: government should help | 1991 | 14.1 | 6.8 | 21.4 | 866 |
| GSS: government should help | 1993 | 20.0 | 12.7 | 27.3 | 882 |
| GSS: government should help | 1994 | 27.0 | 21.8 | 32.2 | 1,654 |
| GSS: government should help | 1996 | 23.8 | 18.4 | 29.2 | 1,539 |
| GSS: government should help | 1998 | 21.8 | 16.3 | 27.4 | 1,508 |
| GSS: government should help | 2000 | 29.1 | 23.6 | 34.7 | 1,445 |
| GSS: government should help | 2002 | 30.5 | 22.4 | 38.7 | 705 |
| GSS: government should help | 2004 | 22.5 | 14.1 | 31.0 | 727 |
| GSS: government should help | 2006 | 29.2 | 23.4 | 35.1 | 1,498 |
| GSS: government should help | 2008 | 32.1 | 25.3 | 38.9 | 1,093 |
| GSS: government should help | 2010 | 39.6 | 32.8 | 46.4 | 1,060 |
| GSS: government should help | 2012 | 31.8 | 24.5 | 39.0 | 1,017 |
| GSS: government should help | 2014 | 38.6 | 32.9 | 44.3 | 1,255 |
| GSS: government should help | 2016 | 43.6 | 38.1 | 49.1 | 1,520 |
| GSS: government should help | 2018 | 36.5 | 29.6 | 43.5 | 1,203 |
| GSS: government should help | 2021 | 46.4 | 41.5 | 51.3 | 2,005 |
| GSS: government should help | 2022 | 38.4 | 31.4 | 45.4 | 1,703 |
| GSS: government should help | 2024 | 42.5 | 36.1 | 48.9 | 1,538 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1973 | 13.4 | 7.4 | 19.5 | 1,242 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1974 | 6.9 | 0.7 | 13.1 | 1,212 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1975 | 12.4 | 6.2 | 18.7 | 1,225 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1976 | 11.6 | 5.2 | 18.1 | 1,205 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1977 | 14.0 | 7.7 | 20.3 | 1,277 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1978 | 18.5 | 11.4 | 25.6 | 1,247 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1980 | 21.9 | 15.0 | 28.9 | 1,164 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1982 | 14.1 | 7.3 | 20.9 | 1,538 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1983 | 18.7 | 12.0 | 25.4 | 1,345 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1984 | 23.0 | 11.7 | 34.2 | 404 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1985 | 10.9 | 1.6 | 20.2 | 639 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1986 | 14.6 | 5.9 | 23.4 | 614 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1987 | 15.2 | 5.3 | 25.2 | 517 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1988 | 6.7 | −1.7 | 15.1 | 598 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1989 | 10.7 | 2.5 | 18.8 | 639 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1990 | 7.0 | −1.1 | 15.1 | 572 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1991 | 12.0 | 4.0 | 19.9 | 631 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1993 | 17.3 | 9.6 | 24.9 | 662 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1994 | 24.7 | 18.8 | 30.7 | 1,234 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1996 | 21.2 | 15.2 | 27.2 | 1,153 |
| GSS: spending too little | 1998 | 14.1 | 7.9 | 20.4 | 1,075 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2000 | 14.8 | 8.6 | 21.0 | 1,068 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2002 | 16.2 | 9.9 | 22.4 | 1,042 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2004 | 14.3 | 8.5 | 20.1 | 1,150 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2006 | 17.8 | 11.5 | 24.1 | 1,130 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2008 | 15.7 | 8.4 | 23.0 | 787 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2010 | 29.2 | 21.0 | 37.4 | 792 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2012 | 25.1 | 16.2 | 34.1 | 752 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2014 | 25.7 | 18.5 | 32.9 | 965 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2016 | 15.4 | 8.6 | 22.3 | 1,129 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2018 | 23.4 | 15.9 | 31.0 | 898 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2021 | 41.7 | 36.0 | 47.3 | 1,467 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2022 | 29.8 | 21.3 | 38.4 | 1,248 |
| GSS: spending too little | 2024 | 15.3 | 8.2 | 22.5 | 1,155 |
Both colored lines lie above the zero rule in every survey year and sit higher in every year from 2010 on than in any year before 1993. The solid line is the ANES gap from 1970 to 2024 and the dashed colored line the GSS gap on help paying medical bills from 1975 to 2024. The grey dashed line is a second GSS question, on spending on health, which names neither insurance nor the government's role. The shaded bands mark the Clinton plan and the ACA debate and passage, positions on the axis and not tests of a cause; each line's band is its 95% interval. Values in Table 2.
How the two surveys asked
Each ANES study and GSS survey is treated as its own sample, so each estimate describes the people asked that year. About 38,00038,318 respondentsEstimandcount of respondents who answered VCF0806Weightsnone (count)PopulationANES respondents who answered the government health insurance questionPeriod1970-2024SourceANES Cumulative Data File respondents answered the ANES scale in election years from 1970 to 2024, and about 40,00039,798 respondentsEstimandcount of respondents who answered helpsickWeightsnone (count)PopulationGSS respondents who answered the help-pay questionPeriod1975-2024SourceGeneral Social Survey answered the GSS question in surveys from 1975 to 2024. The ANES cumulative file carries the scale as one item across those years, and the full question text was not checked in each study. Shares are weightedSurvey weightsNumbers that scale each respondent so the sample matches the population on known traits such as age, race, education and region. A weighted average counts a respondent with a large weight for more than one with a small weight. to match the population on known traits, and answers of don't know are left out. The qualification that matters is interview modeSurvey modeHow respondents were interviewed: in person, by phone, on paper or online. Mode can change answers, so a change in mode can look like a change in opinion.. The ANES added a web sample beside its in-person sample in 2012, 2016 and 2024, and the 2020 study had no in-person interviews [3]. The GSS interviewed mostly in person through 2018 and moved most interviews to the web in 2021. The latest movements in each survey therefore mix any change of opinion with a change of mode. The report gives every estimate with its interval and sample size.
The CES asked about the ACA only after it passed
The Cooperative Election Study (CES), an opt-in panel, names policies that were on the national agenda in the years they were asked, and it asked about the Affordable Care Act in every year from 2012 to 2021. In 2012, 80.3%80.3% percent of respondents who answered the itemEstimandweighted share opposing repeal of the Affordable Care Act (CES, opt-in panel)Interval95% CI 79.5% to 81.1%n24,358Weightsweight (single-wave weight)PopulationDemocratic identifiers (leaners included) who answered the CES itemPeriod2012SourceCooperative Election Study of Democrats and 23.9%23.9% percent of respondents who answered the itemEstimandweighted share opposing repeal of the Affordable Care Act (CES, opt-in panel)Interval95% CI 23.0% to 24.8%n19,613Weightsweight (single-wave weight)PopulationRepublican identifiers (leaners included) who answered the CES itemPeriod2012SourceCooperative Election Study of Republicans opposed repealing the law. The Democratic share stayed above the Republican share in every year through 2021, and the interval for the gap lies above zero in every year, counting 2014 after a recode explained below. The CES health items begin in 2012, after the law passed, and end in 2021, so they cannot show whether the ACA gap widened the way the ANES and GSS gaps did. The wording of the repeal question changes in 2014, in 2016 and from 2018, so the lines in the figure join only years with the same wording.
The cumulative CES file gives the answer support the same code in every year, but in 2014 that code is the Democratic answer. At face value the stored 2014 answers would make Democrats the party more likely to support repeal, the opposite of every other year. The loader reverses the 2014 code, and the reversal rests on that party pattern and on an earlier version of the file that applied the same switch [4], not on a value label. The 2014 question also differs in wording from its neighbors, so the chapter draws 2014 as an open point apart from the lines and uses it in no comparison.
Figure 2
Democrats opposed repealing the ACA more often than Republicans in every CES year, counting 2014 after a recode, with independents between them
Share opposing repeal of the Affordable Care Act, by party identification including leaners, 2012 to 2021; open points are the 2014 and 2016 questions, which are worded differently; 95% intervals from an opt-in panel
Show data
| Group | Year | Question worded differently from its neighbours (2014, 2016) | Share (%) | Lower | Upper | Respondents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 2012 | no | 80.3 | 79.5 | 81.1 | 24,358 |
| Democrats | 2013 | no | 73.4 | 72.0 | 74.9 | 7,267 |
| Democrats | 2014 | yes | 80.0 | 79.3 | 80.8 | 25,595 |
| Democrats | 2015 | no | 66.1 | 64.5 | 67.7 | 6,584 |
| Democrats | 2016 | yes | 70.9 | 70.2 | 71.6 | 31,104 |
| Democrats | 2017 | no | 83.9 | 82.7 | 85.0 | 8,518 |
| Democrats | 2018 | no | 85.0 | 84.4 | 85.6 | 27,585 |
| Democrats | 2019 | no | 81.8 | 80.7 | 83.0 | 8,228 |
| Democrats | 2020 | no | 83.1 | 82.5 | 83.7 | 29,302 |
| Democrats | 2021 | no | 79.6 | 78.7 | 80.6 | 12,445 |
| Independents | 2012 | no | 53.9 | 52.1 | 55.8 | 5,890 |
| Independents | 2013 | no | 37.6 | 35.0 | 40.2 | 2,825 |
| Independents | 2014 | yes | 34.3 | 32.7 | 35.9 | 8,616 |
| Independents | 2015 | no | 37.0 | 34.1 | 39.9 | 2,159 |
| Independents | 2016 | yes | 34.6 | 33.3 | 35.9 | 10,471 |
| Independents | 2017 | no | 47.2 | 44.5 | 49.8 | 3,161 |
| Independents | 2018 | no | 53.9 | 52.2 | 55.6 | 8,514 |
| Independents | 2019 | no | 46.3 | 43.5 | 49.1 | 2,631 |
| Independents | 2020 | no | 53.0 | 51.3 | 54.6 | 8,839 |
| Independents | 2021 | no | 49.8 | 47.8 | 51.8 | 4,352 |
| Republicans | 2012 | no | 23.9 | 23.0 | 24.8 | 19,613 |
| Republicans | 2013 | no | 12.3 | 11.1 | 13.6 | 5,153 |
| Republicans | 2014 | yes | 10.8 | 10.2 | 11.5 | 18,925 |
| Republicans | 2015 | no | 14.8 | 13.4 | 16.1 | 4,833 |
| Republicans | 2016 | yes | 11.7 | 11.1 | 12.2 | 20,818 |
| Republicans | 2017 | no | 15.2 | 13.9 | 16.5 | 5,733 |
| Republicans | 2018 | no | 23.5 | 22.7 | 24.2 | 21,693 |
| Republicans | 2019 | no | 18.6 | 17.4 | 19.8 | 6,435 |
| Republicans | 2020 | no | 21.3 | 20.5 | 22.0 | 20,358 |
| Republicans | 2021 | no | 26.6 | 25.4 | 27.8 | 8,139 |
The Democratic line runs above the Republican line in every year from 2012 to 2021, and the grey independent line lies between them. The lines break where the wording changes; the open points are 2014, shown after the recode, and 2016, when the question asked for a vote for or against. Bands are 95% intervals from an opt-in panel and rest on a model. Values in Table 5.
The latest movement mixes opinion with interview mode
The largest step between adjacent ANES studies is the rise from 2016 to 2020, into the study with no in-person interviews. The 2020 study has no separate weights by mode, so the ANES on its own cannot split that step into a change of opinion and a change of mode. From 2020 to 2024 the gap fell, and among the newly recruited web respondents of 2024 the change from 2020 has an interval that includes zero. The GSS gap rose from 2018 to 2021, the survey in which most interviews moved to the web. The like-for-like change among in-person respondents, from 2018 to 2022, has an interval that includes zero, and in 2022 and 2024 the web gap exceeds the in-person gap within the same survey. The period comparison does not depend on the web samples. Among in-person ANES respondents alone, the gap pooled over 2012, 2016 and 2024 exceeds the gap before 1993 by +18.6 (95% CI 14.3 to 23.0)+18.6 percentage pointsEstimandchange in the pooled weighted party gap from before 1993 to the later period among in-person respondents; the ANES seven-point government against private health insurance scale (VCF0806), answers 1 to 3 (the government side)Interval95% CI 14.3 to 23.0n12,787Weightsweight (VCF0009z), rescaled to average one within each survey year before years are combinedPopulationDemocratic and Republican identifiers (leaners included) who answered the ANES government health insurance questionPeriodANES 1970-1992 to in-person 2012-2024SourceANES Cumulative Data File points. The in-person GSS gap also rose from before 1993 to 2010 and after, with an interval above zero.
The Republican share fell in both surveys
A gap can widen because one party moves, the other moves or both do. Figure 3 shows the shares behind the ANES gap. In 1970, 54.5%54.5% percent of respondents who answered the itemEstimandweighted share; the ANES seven-point government against private health insurance scale (VCF0806), answers 1 to 3 (the government side)Interval95% CI 50.8% to 58.2%n697Weightsweight (VCF0009z)PopulationDemocratic identifiers (leaners included) who answered the ANES government health insurance questionPeriod1970SourceANES Cumulative Data File of Democrats and 30.1%30.1% percent of respondents who answered the itemEstimandweighted share; the ANES seven-point government against private health insurance scale (VCF0806), answers 1 to 3 (the government side)Interval95% CI 25.7% to 34.5%n415Weightsweight (VCF0009z)PopulationRepublican identifiers (leaners included) who answered the ANES government health insurance questionPeriod1970SourceANES Cumulative Data File of Republicans chose a point on the government side, and in 2024 the shares were 71.7%71.7% percent of respondents who answered the itemEstimandweighted share; the ANES seven-point government against private health insurance scale (VCF0806), answers 1 to 3 (the government side)Interval95% CI 69.0% to 74.3%n2,360Weightsweight (VCF0009z)PopulationDemocratic identifiers (leaners included) who answered the ANES government health insurance questionPeriod2024SourceANES Cumulative Data File and 25.1%25.1% percent of respondents who answered the itemEstimandweighted share; the ANES seven-point government against private health insurance scale (VCF0806), answers 1 to 3 (the government side)Interval95% CI 22.4% to 27.7%n2,129Weightsweight (VCF0009z)PopulationRepublican identifiers (leaners included) who answered the ANES government health insurance questionPeriod2024SourceANES Cumulative Data File. Pooled over the three periods, the Republican share on the government side fell in both steps and the Democratic share rose in the last. Over the whole span the fall in the Republican share exceeds the rise in the Democratic share by +3.3 (95% CI 0.8 to 5.9)+3.3 percentage pointsEstimandfall in the pooled Republican share minus rise in the pooled Democratic share, before 1993 to 2010 and after (independent party samples); the ANES seven-point government against private health insurance scale (VCF0806), answers 1 to 3 (the government side)Interval95% CI 0.8 to 5.9n28,354Weightsweight (VCF0009z), rescaled to average one within each survey year before years are combinedPopulationDemocratic and Republican identifiers (leaners included) who answered the ANES government health insurance questionPeriodANES 1970-1992 to 2012-2024SourceANES Cumulative Data File points, an interval above zero, so the ANES says that the Republican share moved more. The GSS shows the same Republican fall and Democratic rise, and its interval for the fall minus the rise includes zero, so it does not say which party moved more. Independents lie between the parties wherever either survey can report them, and the gap widened within every age and education group that either survey can split; education separates the groups in both periods.
A comparison of the surveys on either side of 1993 or 2010 gives the timing of two measurements and does not test whether the Clinton plan or the ACA moved opinion. Tesler reports that opinion on health care came to line up with racial attitudes under President Obama [5], and Companion 4.6a, Racial attitudes and ideology tests that with the ANES item used here. The three surveys also measure three things, insurance, the federal government's responsibility for medical bills and named policies, so their gaps are not three estimates of one quantity.
What these surveys cannot tell you
Each survey is treated as its own sample, so a gap can widen because people change their view, change their party or are replaced by new adults, and the surveys cannot say which. The 2020 ANES study includes re-interviews of 2016 respondents and the 2024 study includes a panel outside its fresh samples, and the intervals for changes that involve those studies treat the samples as independent. The government side of the ANES scale is a choice of where to cut it. Counting only the end of the scale and the point beside it gives a first change between periods whose interval includes zero. The second change and the fall in the Republican share hold under every cut tested. The 2020 ANES has no mode weights, so the 2016 to 2020 step cannot be split by mode. The CES intervals say nothing about who chose to join its panel, and neither the ANES nor the GSS measures how much respondents care about the issue.
Go deeper
- The report: every estimate with its interval and sample size.
- Tables: every figure of the report as a table.
- Issues: the explorer for this part.
Data sources
- ANES Cumulative Data FileCumulative Data File 1948-2024, government health insurance scale (VCF0806) in the 16 studies from 1970 to 2024; mode weights for 2012, 2016 and 2024Years: 1948-2024 (33 study years; even years only after 2004; no 2006, 2010 or 2014 study) · Weights: weight (VCF0009z); weight_ftf and weight_web for the mode split · License: Free download after accepting the ANES terms of use; cite the release.
- General Social SurveyCumulative data 1972-2024: helpsick (26 surveys, 1975-2024) and natheal (34 surveys, 1973-2024); interview mode and interview date joined from the raw fileYears: 1972-2024 (35 study years) · Weights: weight_use (wtssnrps from 2004, wtssps before) · License: See the provider's terms of use.
- Cooperative Election StudyCumulative CES policy preferences, five health items 2012-2021, with the loader's 2014 recode of the ACA repeal itemYears: 2006-2024 (every year; self-reported turnout is available in the 10 even years) · Weights: weight (single-wave weight) · License: See the provider's terms of use.
References
- Skocpol, Theda (1996). Boomerang: Clinton's Health Security Effort and the Turn Against Government in U.S. Politics. W. W. Norton.
- United States Congress (2010). Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148. Approved 23 March 2010. www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-111publ148
- American National Election Studies (2021). ANES 2020 Time Series Study Full Release: User Guide and Codebook. Stanford University and the University of Michigan. electionstudies.org/data-center/2020-time-series-study/
- Dagonel, Angelo (2023). Guide to the Cumulative CES Policy Preferences. Harvard Dataverse, Cumulative CES Policy Preferences, version 3 (guide last updated 2023-01-18). doi:10.7910/DVN/OSXDQO
- Tesler, Michael (2012). The Spillover of Racialization into Health Care: How President Obama Polarized Public Opinion by Racial Attitudes and Race. American Journal of Political Science 56(3): 690-704. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00577.x
How to cite
@misc{singh2026healthcare,
author = {Singh, Vishal},
title = {Health care},
year = {2026},
url = {https://vishalsingh.org/politics/health-care},
note = {In The Public Mind. Published 3 October 2026.}
}