Support drops for ‘Medicare for All’ but increases for public option

Support is dropping for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) “Medicare for All” health care plan, according to a poll released Tuesday.

The Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll found that 51 percent of those surveyed in October favored Medicare for All, a proposal in which all Americans would get their insurance from a single government plan, compared to the 53 percent who said they supported it last month. 

Conversely, 47 percent of those surveyed said they opposed Medicare for All, an increase of 2 percentage points from September. 

Support for Medicare for All has dropped 5 percentage points since April in the Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll, and opposition has grown by 8 points. 

Medicare for All has been a source of contention among Democrats running for president and it is likely to come up again during Tuesday’s debate in Ohio.{mosads}

While Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) support the plan, former Vice President Joe Biden and other moderates oppose it, arguing it would eliminate choice for Americans who prefer private health insurance. 

Biden has opted for a more moderate proposal that would create a public option to compete with private insurance companies. 

The Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll found support for a public option is growing: 73 percent said they supported the proposal in October, compared to the 69 percent who said the same in September. 

Independent and Republican respondents were more likely to support a public option than Medicare for All.

While only 28 percent of Republicans polled said they support Medicare for All, 58 percent said they support a public option, indicating Biden’s plan might fare better in a general election. 

Meanwhile, 50 percent of independents polled said they support Medicare for All, but 73 percent said they support a public option. 

The tracking poll has a margin of sampling error of 3 percentage points and was conducted Oct. 3-8 among a nationally representative sample of 1,205 adults.