Health care is a priority issue among U.S. voters ahead of the November midterm elections, according to a new poll by the Henry J. Kaiser, Family Foundation released on Thursday.

“Health care is voters’ top issue with seven in 10 (71 per cent) saying health care is ‘very important’ in deciding who they will vote for,’’ according to the Foundation.

Other top issues are the state of the U.S. economy and jobs (64 per cent), gun policy (60 per cent), immigration (55 per cent), tax cuts and tax reform (53 per cent) and foreign policy (51 per cent), the release added.

However, less than half of poll responders said they were hearing “a lot’’ from politicians about specific health care issues, the foundation said.

The only issue voters said they were hearing a lot about is immigration (58 per cent).

The release showed that slightly more than half responded by saying they were hearing a lot about a candidate’s opposition or support for U.S. President Donald Trump.

Within the issues of health care, the largest share of voters said they were hearing a lot about the prescription painkiller epidemic (38 per cent).

The 2010 Affordable Care Act (35 per cent) and continuing protections for people with pre-existing conditions (23 per cent).

The Foundation said it conducted the poll from September 19, through October 2, among a nationally representative random digit dial telephone sample of 1,201 adults.

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, according to the release.

(Sputnik/NAN)