KFF Poll: Healthcare Costs Are Top Priority for MAHA Voters

A KFF Health Tracking Poll published May 6, 2026, indicates that the cost of health care is a more significant priority for voters supporting the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement than the policy issues most closely associated with the movement’s platform.

According to the poll, 42% of MAHA-supporting voters identify lowering the cost of health care as their most important health priority for the government to address. This figure outranks other core priorities of the movement, including the restriction of chemical additives in the food supply, which was selected by 21% of these voters.

The data further shows that other MAHA-aligned goals hold less weight as top priorities for this group. Only 10% of MAHA voters cited the reevaluation of vaccine safety as their primary concern, while 8% prioritized limiting corporate influence on food policy and another 8% prioritized restricting the use of pesticides in agriculture.

The poll also examined how these health priorities influence voter behavior heading into the upcoming midterms. Health care affordability appears to be a more powerful motivator than ideological health policy changes.

At least 51% of MAHA voters stated that the cost of health care will have a major impact on their decision to vote. 56% of these voters said that health care costs will influence which party’s candidate they support.

In contrast, issues specifically championed by the MAHA movement showed lower levels of influence on voting decisions. Regarding vaccine policy, 36% of MAHA voters said it would impact their decision to vote, and 40% said it would impact their candidate choice.

Food safety also lagged behind health care costs in terms of voter motivation. Approximately 43% of MAHA voters indicated that food safety would impact their decision to vote, and 45% said it would impact which candidate they support.

The MAHA movement, which is promoted by the Trump administration and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has gained significant traction among the American public.

The KFF poll found that about 41% of adults and 43% of voters identify as supporters of the MAHA movement. The data indicates that support for the movement is closely tied to partisanship and support for President Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

While concerns regarding pesticides and chemical food additives are shared broadly across the general public, the findings suggest a gap between the movement’s ideological focus and the practical economic concerns of its supporters.

The results suggest that for a plurality of MAHA supporters, the immediate financial burden of medical care outweighs the movement’s focus on food safety and vaccine policy when determining the most urgent government action required in the health sector.