Dems in half of House races support Medicare for all
Party makes health care a top campaign issue
WASHINGTON – Democratic candidates for the House are backing a Medicare-for-all approach to the nation’s health care system in just over half the races in which a Democrat is on the ballot, according to a new survey provided first to USA TODAY.
The tally by National Nurses United, which supports a government-run, single-payer system, shows how the idea has risen in popularity even as Republicans attack the plan as socialized medicine.
“This is historic,” said Ken Zinn, the group’s political director. “The campaign has really picked up steam.”
But polls show the public is still fuzzy on the details of “Medicare for all,” and support drops when they’re given more information. The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation defines the program as one that would replace virtually all other sources of private health coverage and most public programs.
Democrats will need to win a lot of races where they’re the underdog to substantially increase the number of House members backing the plan. Just under two-thirds of the 193 Democrats in the House are already co-sponsors of a Medicare-for-all bill.
Democrats have made health care one of their top campaign issues this cycle after many Republicans voted for failed legislation last year that would have removed millions of Americans from the rolls of the insured. Many are pledging to fix the flaws in the Affordable Care Act while targeting GOP attempts to “sabotage” it.
In an op-ed for USA TODAY, President Donald Trump ripped Medicare for all as “just the beginning” of a socialist agenda for Democrats. He said the program would cost an “astonishing” $32.6 trillion during its first 10 years, a reference to a study by the Mercatus Center of George Mason University of a health care plan proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate who may run in 2020.
Politifact found that Americans in the aggregate would pay more to the government to fund health care but less overall than they pay now. The factchecking site also noted the study forecast that total health care spending would drop by about $2 trillion over 10 years.
Medicare for all is one of the top issues at the heart of a divide between its progressive advocates and centrist Democrats who say the proposal is a political loser and who would rather focus on shoring up “Obamacare.”
The division played out in the red state of Indiana last week with two Democratic candidates campaigning on opposite sides of the issue. While 9th District Congressional candidate Liz Watson campaigned with Sanders in favor of it, Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly released an ad saying “socialists” will turn health care over to the government “over my dead body.”
Tracking polls from the Kaiser Family Foundation show a modest increase in support for the idea of a national health plan since Sanders made it part of his rallying cry during the 2016 presidential election. About 6 in 10 adults favor a national health plan or Medicarefor-all system. Fewer than half did a decade ago.
Nicole Gaudiano and Maureen Groppe