Health care costs have become one of the most urgent crises in American life. Premiums keep climbing faster than inflation. Families across the country report rationing medications or simply not seeking treatment just to make ends meet.

The political story we tell ourselves is that this is an intractable partisan standoff – that Republicans and Democrats are simply too far apart on what role the government should play in health care to ever agree.

But what if that story is wrong?

My colleagues and I at the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation (PPC) surveyed Americans nationally and in 11 states and 28 House districts with competitive races in November's midterm elections. What we found should force a rethinking of Washington's conventional wisdom.

Numerous proposals have been put forward in Congress to address the problem of health care costs. On proposal after proposal – related to drug pricing, health insurance and substance abuse treatment – clear majorities of Republicans and Democrats actually agree on solutions.

The conventional political narrative suggests Republicans are generally wary of expanding the federal government’s role in health care. But our findings complicate that picture. On a wide range of proposals to bring down health care costs and expand access to treatment, majorities of Republicans support federal action.

There is one clear throughline: Americans think the federal government should do more to help Americans afford health care.

Americans support Affordable Care Act subsidies

The debate over expanding government health........

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