A new Morning Consult poll shows that “Medicare for All” falls just short of majority support (47%) — but that 31% of Republicans support the policy, which is being championed by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and other 2020 Democratic candidates.
The poll, which surveyed 6,600 adults and has a margin of error of 1%, showed broad majorities support some form of federal health insurance that would be available to all Americans, though support was higher for policies that would be optional.
Morning Consult noted that support for “Medicare for All” had fallen since the 2018 midterm elections, thanks in part to Republican attacks on the policy, as well as revelation about its likely cost ($32 trillion over 10 years, which would increase government spending by 68%, based on the FY 2020 budget of $4.8 trillion).
Support has also dropped as the legislative details of the “Medicare for All” policy have become clearer — including the elimination of private health insurance, and coverage for illegal aliens and for abortions, among other features.
Still, Morning Consult notes, there is broad support for some of the policy’s aims, even if not its precise details:
The poll found that despite the abyss between partisans on health reform, most people want the same thing: a system in which everyone has health insurance, and the right to choose where they get it from, without going bankrupt. And with many months ahead to litigate the merits of Medicare for All, the data suggests the proposal’s proponents are on more fertile ground than its detractors to bring the public to their side.
The survey specifically found majority support for a policy that would allow people to buy into Medicare once they reached 50 years old; for a policy that would allow all adults to buy into Medicaid; and for a “public option” that would allow adults to buy a form of federal insurance on the Obamacare exchanges.
President Donald Trump has promised that Republicans will produce their own alternative plan for health insurance.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.