Most US Voters Do Not Want to Eliminate Private Insurance

  26 Sep 2019

A recent poll has found that most American voters do not want to eliminate access to private medical insurance.

The poll indicated that while most voters would favor some kind of expansion of Medicare, they do not support most of the “Medicare for All” plans being presented by the top-tier 2020 democratic candidates, which eliminate a private option.

The joint poll between the Wall Street Journal and NBC, found that sixty-seven percent of registered voters support allowing people under 65 to have an option to buy health care coverage through a Medicare program, as long as private insurance options were kept available.

Less than half of registered voters, 41 percent, support a single-payer Medicare for All system that would eliminate the private health insurance industry, according to the survey. That kind of program that entirely eliminates private insurance did poll better among registered democrats, but even among Democrats, keeping a private insurance option alive is more widely supported, the pollsters found.

The results come as Democrats vying for the White House debate over differing approaches to healthcare. Progressive candidates such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) support a Medicare for All system that would entirely rid the country of the private insurance industry.

Others, such as Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and South Bend., Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), have proposals that would expand Medicare for more Americans but keep private options open for those who want it – which seems more in step with more of America, per the WSJ/NBC poll.

Former Vice President Joe Biden does not support a Medicare for All plan, and has instead proposed expanding on the Affordable Care Act, which he said he aided in creating during his time in the Obama administration.

The new poll surveyed 900 registered voters, including 506 who said they would vote in a Democratic caucus or primary. The poll was conducted between Sept. 13 and 16. It has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points for the full sample and 4.4 percentage points for questioning involving only Democratic voters.