Support for Medicare for all depends on priorities
Public opinion can shift dramatically, depending on how the idea is framed.
WASHINGTON – The popularity of Medicare for all soars when people hear it would guarantee health insurance as a right.
It becomes a political loser if people think it would lead to treatment delays.
That’s according to a new survey from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, which found broad support for incremental approaches to nationalizing health care, including letting some people buy into Medicare or Medicaid.
A majority of Republicans surveyed supported opening the governmentrun health care programs – designed for the elderly and for the poor – to some who wouldn’t otherwise qualify.
Despite the attention the issue has gotten, Democrats preferred that Congress focus first on improving and protecting the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
About half of Democrats said that should be the focus of their party’s new House majority compared with 38 percent who prioritized passing Medicare for all.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., signaled her priority when affirming on her first day that House Democrats would defend the ACA against the latest legal challenge from Republicans.
“The new Democratic House of Representatives will be relentless in defending protections for people with preexisting conditions and affordable health care for every American,” Pelosi said.
Less than half of those surveyed were aware that a federal judge in Texas ruled in December that the ACA is invalid. The law remains in place as Democrats appeal that decision.
The Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy research group, has tracked views on a national health plan for two decades.
About four in 10 surveyed in 1998 backed a single government health plan for all Americans.
Support has modestly ticked upward, particularly after Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders made it part of his rallying cry during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Democrats, who took control of the House after midterm elections in which they campaigned extensively on health care, plan to hold hearings on Medicare for all.
Public opinion can shift dramatically, depending on how the idea is framed.
A slight majority – 56 percent – surveyed by Kaiser backed the idea of all Americans getting insurance from a single government plan.
Support shot up to 71 percent, and opposition fell to 27 percent, when respondents were told Medicare for all could “guarantee health insurance as a right for all Americans.”
Levels of support and opposition flipped when respondents were asked their views if the proposal would “lead to delays in people getting some medical tests and treatments.”
Views were more negative than positive if Medicare for all would eliminate private health insurance companies, would require most Americans to pay more in taxes and if it would threaten the current Medicare program.
Respondents viewed it very favorably if it would eliminate all health insurance premiums and reduce out-ofpocket health care costs for most Americans.
The telephone poll was conducted Jan. 9-14 among 1,190 adults nationwide. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.