Poll shows desire for urgency on healthcare as ACA signups surge after election.

Of all the hot-button issues chucked around during the Presidential election, healthcare landed as the top priority of Americans in a post-election Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday.

About 21 percent of the 1,782 Americans polled said that healthcare should be the primary focus of President-elect Trump’s first 100 days in office. Jobs came in as the second most pressing issue, selected by 16 percent. Immigration came in third, picked by 14 percent. The online poll, conducted from November 9 to 14, drew from all 50 states and had an accuracy of three percentage points.

Though the poll doesn’t reveal what Americans want changed about the country’s complex healthcare system, it may signal frustration with the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), President Obama’s signature piece of healthcare legislation. Trump vowed during his campaign to quickly repeal and replace the law once in office. But since being elected, Trump has walked back that plan, saying he would consider preserving some Obamacare elements. Namely, he's gone on record as tentatively wanting to prevent health insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions and allowing children to stay on their parents’ plans until the age of 26.

That walk-back may have been a wise move by Trump. In an October poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, only 37 percent of Americans said they wanted a complete repeal of the ACA. But nearly three-quarters said making sure high-priced drugs are affordable for those in need should be a top priority. Additionally, 63 percent said they wanted to see the government take direct action to lower drug costs. Other top concerns included making sure health plans have sufficient doctor and hospital networks, plus having protections from high out-of-network doctor charges during visits to in-network hospitals.

Despite those reported concerns, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on Wednesday that they were seeing a boost in ACA sign ups during this year’s open enrollment period, which began November 1. The three days directly after the election in particular saw surges, the CMS reports, with more than 300,000 sign ups total (averaging about 100,000 a day). Last year, during the same time frame (the second week of enrollment) the daily average was around 76,000. Overall, during the first 12 days of 2016 enrollment, the CMS reported there were 53,000 more plans selected than during the same time frame last year. Total sign ups now top one million.