The Public Prefers Democratic Ideas On Health Care

These charts are from The Commonwealth Fund / The New York Times / Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Poll -- done between July 10th and August 11th of 2019. It has a margin of error of 2.5 points for the 2,005 adults questioned.

There are three big ideas for fixing health care in the United States. The Democrats have two ideas -- A) put all Americans under an improved Medicare (often called "Medicare For All"), and B) improve Obamacare and add a public option for heal insurance to it. Both of the Democratic plans would provide decent health insurance for all American citizens.

The Republicans want to do away with Obamacare and leave health insurance to the states. Their plan would not cover all Americans, but only those who can afford to buy private health insurance. It would also not contain the guarantees of Obamacare (like guaranteeing coverage for pre-existing conditions).

What does the public think? Which plan do they support? That is answered in the top chart. About 32% would prefer Medicare For All, about 28% would prefer adding a public option to an improved Obamacare, and 29% would prefer to replace Obamacare with state health plans.

Note that this means about 60% support one of the Democratic plans, while 29% support the Republican idea. The 60% wants all Americans covered by a decent health insurance plan, while the 29% thinks health insurance is just a product to be sold to those who can afford it.

Below are some other interesting charts from the survey.