Poll: Bernie Sanders Beats Joe Biden on Health Care

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) beats out former Vice President Joe Biden on health care, which serves as a symbolic contrast over the Democrats’ ideological split over Medicare for All or improving Obamacare through a public option, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Although Medicare for All remains a controversial healthcare proposal, it may seem many Democrat primary voters trust him on healthcare policy compared to every other Democrat presidential candidate.

A Morning Consult/Politico released Tuesday found 25 percent of Democrat primary voters believe Sanders has the best understanding of the American healthcare system. Nineteen percent of Democrat voters favored Biden, compared to 18 percent who preferred Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and six percent who liked Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA).

The survey arises as the Democrats just held their two nights of 2020 Democrat presidential debates, in which they discussed health care for roughly an hour each night. Moderate Democrats pushed back against more progressive candidates such as Warren and Sanders, believing that Medicare for All is politically unfeasible and would eliminate Americans’ private health insurance.

Democrats also believed that Sen. Sanders serves as most qualified to solve the existing problems of American health care. Twenty-three percent of Democrat primary voters backed Sanders, compared to 19 percent who preferred Biden, 17 percent who backed Warren, and only four percent who liked Harris.

Harris has struggled to convey her healthcare platform during the Democrat primaries, as she originally backed Medicare for All, but has previously flip-flopped as to whether her Medicare for All plan would eliminate private health insurance. Right before the most recent Democrat debates, Harris released a new Medicare fro All plan that would allow Americans to keep their private health insurance.

The survey polled 797 Democrat primary voters from August 1 to 3, with a margin of error of three points.