Support for Medicare for All dips: poll

A new poll finds that public support for “Medicare for All,” a policy championed by several 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, has dipped in recent months. 

The Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll found that 51 percent of the public now say they favor Medicare for All, compared to 56 percent in April 2019. 

The survey also found a public option to be more popular, with 65 percent in favor of making this available to Americans to compete with private insurance plans. {mosads}

The new poll also found general public favorability for Medicare at 83 percent, support for employer-sponsored insurance at 76 percent and backing for Medicaid at 75 percent.

Of those with Medicare coverage 95 percent viewed their coverage favorably, compared to 86 percent of those with employer coverage.

Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents also support expanding coverage and building on the Affordable Care Act rather than replacing it with a Medicare for All plan, 55 to 39 percent. 

Researchers surveyed 1,196 U.S. adults between  July 18 and July 23. The results have a margin of error of 3 percentage points overall and 5 percentage points among Democrats and Democratic leaners. 

Some 2020 presidential candidates such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are running on Medicare for All, while others like former Vice President Joe Biden are supporting a public option. They are among more than two dozen candidates running and will all appear in this week’s Democratic debates.