Why wasn’t healthcare more of an issue?

[darklordoftech]

There wasn’t any more pressing issue, and healthcare seems to be a perennial issue, so why wasn’t healthcare more of an issue in the primaries or general election?

[Sumner 1868]

They blamed the failure of the Clinton plan on the Gingrich "Republican Revolution" and dodged the issue as much as they could after that. But it wasn't true. The 1994 midterms were caused by the same force that emerged in 2016.

https://prospect.org/power/deserted-democrats-1994/

Among whites, where the decline in Democratic support between 1992 and 1994 was concentrated (black Democratic support actually went up slightly), the shift away from the Democrats among noncollege-educated voters was even more pronounced, especially among men. Between 1992 and 1994, Democratic support declined 20 points (to 37 percent) among white men with a high school education and 15 points (to 31 percent) among white men with some college.

Contrary to the hopes invested in the "gender gap," noncollege-educated white women also deserted in droves. For both white women with a high school diploma and those with some college, Democratic support dropped 10 points. Thus, to ascribe the falloff in Democratic support to "angry white guys," as many commentators did, is to miss the point. Large numbers of noncollege-educated white men and women alike abandoned the party.

What is true of the electorate as a whole is also true of the 1992 Perot voters, a key swing group. Adjusted to reflect voting patterns in the Census data, their ranks are even more dominated by noncollege-educated voters. And they moved massively against the Democrats, down 17 points from 1992 to just 32 percent support.

...

% CHANGE IN DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT 1992-94
WHITE MEN
high school dropout..-11%
high school graduate.-20%
some college.........-15%
college graduate......-6%
WHITE WOMEN
high school dropout...-5%
high school graduate.-10%
some college.........-10%
college graduate......+2%
% CHANGE IN REAL HOURLY WAGE, 1979-1993
WHITE MEN
high school dropout..-26%
high school graduate.-17%
some college ........-11%
college graduate......+2%
WHITE WOMEN
high school dropout..-12%
high school graduate..-2%
some college..........+7%
college graduate.....+14%

Democrats had years of warnings Trumpism could happen - they just didn't care.

[Orser67]

After the collapse of Hillarycare in 1994, Democrats were wary of attempting another major healthcare overhaul. Gore's proposals thus were centered on building on the smaller achievements of the Clinton administration (e.g. CHIP). Without a strong difference between the Gore and Bush plans, healthcare didn't reach the level of prominence that it did in many other 20th and 21st century elections.

[Mr. Smith]

There wasn't a serious recession to press the issue like 2008 brought out.

[Hydera]

Healthcare became far expensive since the 90s. If healthcare was affordable then it wouldnt had been as much of an issue.

[Suburbia]

After the collapse of Hillarycare in 1994, Democrats were wary of attempting another major healthcare overhaul. Gore's proposals thus were centered on building on the smaller achievements of the Clinton administration (e.g. CHIP). Without a strong difference between the Gore and Bush plans, healthcare didn't reach the level of prominence that it did in many other 20th and 21st century elections.

This.

Yes, in 2000 the economy was great but the U.S. had a high uninsured healthcare rate