Public Supports Medicare-For All (Up To A Point)

The charts in this post reflect the latest Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between July 14th and 16th of a national sample of 1,149 registered voters, with a margin of error fo three points.

One of the issues being discussed in the Democratic presidential campaign is whether this nation should go to a single-payer health insurance program (like Medicare-For-All). Sanders and some others are pushing hard for Medicare-For-All. Biden and others would beef up Obamacare and create a public option that would cover the poor and allow workers to buy into a Medicare-like program.

Personally, I believe our current system has failed us badly, and I believe we will eventually wind up with a single-payer system like Medicare-For-All. I'm just not sure the country is ready to do that yet.

Note in the chart above that 52% of registered voters say they would support a Medicare-For-All system, while only 39% would oppose it. That sounds great. But when you look further, you find that many of those people don't understand what that would entail.

Now look at the chart below. It asked those same people if they would support a Medicare-For-All program if it eliminated private insurance (which it surely would need to do to work). All of a sudden support drops to only 37%, while opposition climbs to 49%. There are a lot of people covered by private insurance (usually through their employer) that are not willing to give it up.

Obviously, more work needs to be done to convince the public that a single-payer, government-run health care insurance system would be the best option for everyone -- even those currently covered by private insurance.

I think Biden might be right. The path to a true single-payer system must start with creating a public option that provides good insurance for everyone, and allows workers to buy into it to save money over trying to get private insurance. Once people realize that the public option is good insurance and cheaper than private insurance, it will grow fast -- especially if businesses are allowed to buy into it for their employees.