A slight majority of Republicans say they support a “Medicare for All” plan that has been touted by Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and criticized by the right.
The poll, conducted by The Hill and the HarrisX polling company, found that 52 percent of Republicans support the plan while 48 percent oppose the plan. Twenty-five percent of Republicans said they “strongly” back the bill, which as received support from numerous 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, and 27 percent say they “somewhat” supported it. Just 26 percent of Republicans say they “strongly” oppose the idea. Overall, 70 percent of Americans said they support expanding Medicare to everyone.
More than 120 members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors of Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act. None of them are Republicans.
Republican Response:
President Donald Trump has repeatedly slammed the idea of a “Medicare for All” plan and warned Democrats' proposals would turn states into the “next Venezuela.”
"In practice, the Democratic Party’s so-called Medicare for All would really be Medicare for None," Trump wrote in an op-ed in USA Today. "Under the Democrats' plan, today’s Medicare would be forced to die."
Hill correspondent Reid Wilson adds, "This is a debate that has only just started, and there are a lot of Republicans right now who are trying to figure out ways to talk about 'Medicare for all' in ways that will bring that number down, and bring the overall number down. So this is not baked in at all."
Democratic Response:
"As Donald Trump and Republicans have stepped up attacks on Medicare for All, their own party has embraced the policy," said Josh Miller-Lewis, Sanders' communications director.
"In poll after poll," the Sanders-backed group Our Revolution said in a statement, "the American people are voicing their overwhelming support for the United States joining every other major country in guaranteeing healthcare as a right to every woman, man, and child with Medicare for All."
Experts Warn:
“People read into ‘Medicare-for-all’ what they want to read into it,” Democratic pollster Celinda Lake told ABC News.
“I’m heartened, but not persuaded” that all the hype will lead to any action, Dr. Carol Paris, the president of Physicians for a National Health Program, told the outlet, adding that she worries about “faux ‘Medicare-for-all’ plans” that won't live up to the promises.
[Image via Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons]
