Poll: 64 Percent of Voters Unwilling to Pay More Taxes for Medicare for All or Public Option

Sixty-four percent of American voters remain unwilling to pay more taxes to pay for universal coverage, such as Medicare for All or a public option, according to a poll released Thursday.

A survey released Thursday conducted by Locust Street Group commissioned by the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future found that 64 percent of American voters would remain unwilling to pay more in taxes in exchange for Medicare for All or a public option. In contrast, 36 percent of voters said that they would be willing to pay more in taxes for universal coverage.

Americans across the political spectrum oppose paying more in taxes for Medicare for All or a public option. Seventy-nine percent of Republican voters oppose paying more in taxes for universal coverage, 66 percent of swing voters disfavor more taxes for universal coverage, and 51 percent of Democrat voters do not approve of paying more taxes for universal coverage.

Phillip Morris, a partner of Locust Street Group, said in a statement Thursday, “A majority of Democratic, swing, and Republican voters are clear that they are not willing to pay any more in taxes for universal coverage. They’re looking for health care policies that lower rising health care costs more than anything else.”

The question over whether Americans would have to pay more in taxes to fund Medicare for All has served as a politically tricky issue for progressive Democrats such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Sen. Sanders admitted in July during the Democrat presidential debate that middle-class Americans would have to pay more in taxes to pay for Medicare for All.

“Yes,” Sanders admitted. However, he cautioned that Americans will “pay more in taxes but less in health care.”

The Vermont progressive also claimed in June that most Americans would “be delighted to pay more in taxes” to pay for Medicare for All; however, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that a majority of Americans would opp{{ose Medicare for Al/l or a, single-payer plan if the proposal were to lead to higher taxes, delays, and eliminate health insurance.;

A majority of Americans would oppose a Medicare for All proposal if it were to:

• Eliminate private health insurance (58 percent)
• Require most Americans to pay more in taxes (60 percent)
• Harm Medicare (60 percent)
• Lead to delays in medical tests and treatments (70 percent)

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told Breitbart News in June that the single-payer proposal would lead to “higher taxes, longer wait times, and worse care.”