McLaughlin Poll: Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Excessive Government Mandates and Regulatory Red Tape Targeting the Individual Health Care Marketplace

Survey Finds Voters Across the Political Spectrum, Including Swing and Trump Voters, Seriously Concerned with Policies That Would Hike Health Care Costs, Throw Hardworking Americans Off Their Coverage, Fail to Avert a Health Care Tax Hike and Destabilize the Market

June 26, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans for a Balanced Budget released the findings of a national survey of 1,200 likely voters Wednesday. The poll, conducted by John McLaughlin of McLaughlin & Associates, found overwhelming opposition, from across the political spectrum, to misguided and excessive government mandates and regulatory red tape targeting the individual health care marketplace included in the version of the Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1) passed by the U.S. House.

“There is much to like in the Big Beautiful Bill. Thanks to President Trump and Congressional leadership, we are close to delivering a generational victory to the American people. There is, however, one policy area that deserves more attention,” said Dee Stewart, President of Americans for a Balanced Budget. “Like other markets, the individual health care marketplace benefits from flexibility and competition. The current version of the bill creates arbitrary and excessive government mandates targeting the individual health care marketplace. These mandates, combined with a failure to avert a massive health care tax hike, threaten to undermine the significant savings and greater prosperity the Big Beautiful Bill would deliver for American families.”

“Voters from across the political spectrum overwhelmingly oppose policies that would destabilize the market, hike health care costs, and throw millions of hardworking Americans off their health care coverage entirely,” Stewart continued. “Congress should heed voters’ warning and act to protect hardworking Americans from higher costs, lost coverage, and increased national debt by removing these mandates from the Big Beautiful Bill, before it is finalized and passed into law. Voters want flexibility and competition, not excessive mandates.”

“This national survey of 1,200 likely voters illustrates overwhelming bipartisan support for the Individual Health Insurance Marketplace,” said John McLaughlin, CEO of McLaughlin & Associates, in a summary of the poll’s findings. “Protecting the marketplace is viewed as good policy for working class Americans and is a big political winner for lawmakers. Conversely, lawmakers who diminish the marketplace or are blamed for dismantling it will be vulnerable and held accountable by voters.”

“It is clear voters have non-negotiables when it comes to making changes to the marketplace: 1) preserve and extend the enhanced Premium Tax Credits that are set to expire at the end of 2025 without congressional action, 2) protect and keep the current open-enrollment period as is, and 3) continue to automatically re-enroll customers to safeguard their coverage,” McLaughlin wrote.

Key findings from the survey include:

Political Upside: Protecting the Individual Health Insurance Marketplace Is a Big Winning Issue

  • 4 in 5 voters (81%) are MORE likely to vote for a candidate for U.S. Senate or Congress who voted to protect Americans from higher health care costs, including higher monthly premiums, in the Individual Health Insurance Marketplace: 83% Trump voters, 84% Republicans, 81% Democrats, and 78% Independents.
  • Three-quarters (77%) are MORE likely to vote for a candidate for U.S. Senate or Congress who voted to preserve the Premium Tax Credit to continue providing lower health care costs and help millions of Americans maintain their coverage, avoiding a massive health care tax hike: 73% Trump voters, 76% Republicans, 82% Democrats, and 72% Independents.
  • 7 in 10 voters (71%) are MORE likely to vote for a candidate for U.S. Senate or Congress who voted to effectively reduce and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in the Individual Health Insurance Marketplace, while rejecting costly government mandates and saving working Americans from cost hikes and higher monthly bills: 84% Trump voters, 81% Republicans, 63% Democrats, and 69% Independents.

Political Downside: Diminishing or Dismantling the Individual Health Insurance Marketplace Makes Lawmakers Vulnerable

  • Three-quarters (74%) are LESS likely to vote for a candidate for U.S. Senate or Congress who voted to cause more than 8 million Americans to lose their health insurance: 64% Trump voters, 67% Republicans, 78% Democrats, and 79% Independents.
  • Three-quarters (74%) are LESS likely to vote for a candidate for U.S. Senate or Congress who voted to add more bureaucratic mandates and government red tape to the Individual Health Insurance Marketplace, hiking health care costs, causing millions of Americans to lose coverage and completely destabilizing the market: 66% Trump voters, 67% Republicans, 74% Democrats, and 74% Independents.

Voters Oppose Bureaucratic Mandates and Red Tape That Make Healthcare More Expensive or Reduce Choices

  • By an 8 to 1 ratio (80% to 9%), the vast majority believe the best thing for consumers is to protect and encourage competition and choices in the marketplace rather than having Congress add more bureaucratic mandates and red tape to the marketplace.

Mclaughlin and Associates conducted the survey, commissioned by Americans for a Balanced Budget, among 1,200 likely voters between June 16-19, 2025. All interviews were conducted online. The interview distribution and demographics reflect a 2026 general election turnout model. The accuracy of the sample of 1,200 likely voters is within +/- 2.8% at a 95% confidence interval.

Read the full McLaughlin & Associates memo on results from the survey HERE.

Read more on the implications of excessive mandates and red tape targeting the individual health care marketplace, combined with the looming prospect of a massive health care tax hike, HERE.

###

About ABB

Americans for a Balanced Budget (ABB) has been an active, leading voice for fiscal sanity in government for more than a quarter century. In the modern era, ABB has broadened its role to include making the ongoing case for common sense, conservative policies to everyday Americans.

Through its advocacy programs and educational efforts, ABB is engaging civic-minded, thoughtful Americans, reaching them by instilling rationality, wisdom, and sanity into the broader public debate. ABB is applying time-tested principles for a more prosperous, secure America.