February 25, 2026 | Noon to 1:00 PM ET
Neil O’Brian (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
Using individual-level medical data and death records, we find that conservative Americans experienced worsening health and higher death rates than liberals during the 2010s. We identify two mechanisms that drive this change. First, demographic reshuffling of the political coalitions during the 2010s brought less healthy voters into the conservative coalition. However, recent ideological differences in mortality rates cannot be fully explained by demographics, public policies or COVID-19 deaths alone. Using public opinion data, we propose a second mechanism for these growing health divides: people on the political right today are less likely to seek healthcare, trust or follow their doctor’s advice, or believe their medications are efficacious, even on health matters unrelated to COVID-19. Together, these findings suggest that right-leaning Americans are increasingly vulnerable to a number of health problems—and resistant to the medical advice that could mitigate them.