Majority of Republicans supports ‘Medicare for all,’ poll finds

More than half of Republicans in a new American Barometer poll say they support “Medicare for all,” also known as a single-payer health-care system. 

The survey, conducted by Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company, found that 52 percent of Republicans polled said they supported the option, while 48 percent said they opposed it. 

Twenty-five percent said they “strongly” supported “Medicare for all,” while 27 percent said they “somewhat” supported it. 

Twenty-two percent said they “somewhat” opposed the idea, while 26 percent said they “strongly” opposed it. 

The poll comes as Democrats aim to make health care, along with “Medicare for all,” a central campaign issue. 

Republican leaders, including President Trump, have slammed the idea, saying it would ultimately fail if it were put into action. 

“In practice, the Democratic Party’s so-called Medicare for All would really be Medicare for None,” Trump wrote in a USA Today op-ed. “Under the Democrats’ plan, today’s Medicare would be forced to die.”

However, other polling has shown that the increased attention on “Medicare for all” could be peeling away senior citizens’ support of Republicans in the midterms. 

A Morning Consult survey released last week found that 52 percent of voters whose top issues are Medicare and Social Security said they would vote for a Democrat in the midterms.

Reid Wilson, campaign reporter for The Hill, told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha that Republicans have yet to find their messaging on the issue. 

“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,” Wilson said on “What America’s Thinking.” 

“Republicans are only beginning to think about how to message this. So this is not baked in at all. This is a debate that plays out over the long term,” he added. 

The American Barometer was conducted on October 19-20 among 1,000 registered voters. The sampling margin of error is 3.1 percentage points. 

— Julia Manchester