Even as health care issues rise in the 2026 campaign debate, new data show that far more House Republicans than Democrats represent districts where the most residents face major medical challenges — and lack health insurance.

An exclusive CNN analysis of data collected by the Congressional District Health Dashboard project finds that significantly more House Republicans than Democrats hold seats where an elevated proportion of residents are experiencing such significant health problems as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and deaths from cardiovascular problems or breast cancer. Likewise, many more House Republicans than Democrats now represent districts where the share of residents who are uninsured exceeds the national average.

In a powerful measure that crystallizes all these disparities, results from the dashboard show that nearly 70% of House Democrats represent districts where life expectancy now exceeds the national average — while life expectancy lags below the national average in over 70% of Republican seats.

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Michael Shepherd, assistant professor at the University of Michigan school of public health, and author of an upcoming book “Rural Pain, Republican Gain,” says his research shows that deteriorating health outcomes appear to have strengthened the GOP in small towns and rural communities experiencing them. “Those worse outcomes lead those White voters to blame the Democratic Party for their bad health, in part because they are blaming the government vaguely and they associate the Democratic Party with government,” he says.