A plurality of voters hold some degree of support for a single-payer system under which they would receive health insurance from the government, according to a poll released Wednesday by Politico and Morning Consult.
Twenty-four percent of respondents said they “strongly” support such a system and 25 percent said they “somewhat” support such a system, for a total of 49 percent. Seventeen percent did not have an opinion and the remainder either “strongly” or “somewhat” said they opposed a single-payer system.
But when the poll asked respondents what degree of control they thought the federal government should have over the U.S. healthcare system, 39 percent said it should have less control while only 26 percent said they thought the government should have more control.
The poll asked respondents to share how they felt about the government offering a public option, a proposal that is favored by other Democrats, including Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016.
The proposal would allow people to buy into government-run health insurance plan as an alternative to private coverage offered on the exchanges in Obamacare. It had slightly less support than a proposal about single-payer, according to the poll, which found that 15 percent “strongly” support a public option while 29 percent “somewhat” support it.
More voters said that the private sector should have less control over the U.S. healthcare system, 32 percent, compared to 28 percent who said it should have more control.
The poll was conducted between Sept. 14 and 17, shortly after Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced a bill that would shift all Americans onto Medicare. The survey involved responses from 1,994 registered voters.
