by Audrey Conklin
Nearly half of likely U.S. voters oppose Medicare for All, according to a Rasmussen national poll published Thursday.
The poll found 46% of likely U.S. voters oppose the universal health care plan similar to those proposed by 2020 Democratic candidates like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, while 39% are in favor of such a program, the poll shows.
Additionally, the survey also found that 56% of people making under $30,000 a year wouldn’t want to pay any more in taxes in exchange for a program like Medicare for All; 40% of 18- to 39-year-olds would not be willing to pay more taxes; and 45% of black individuals would not be willing to pay more taxes.
Among Democratic voters specifically, 32% are willing to pay any cost in higher taxes in exchange for Medicare for All.
Medicare For All …. But Wait, There's More
22% of Democrats are willing to pay an extra $100 in taxes per year to support #MedicareForAll
Meanwhile 32% of Democrats are unwilling to pay ANY higher taxe$ to bring #MedicareForAll into existence. https://t.co/eTuYBLmJKt pic.twitter.com/GxpbcGR0Qg
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) November 14, 2019
The poll, which asked 1,000 likely voters if they support Medicare for All and had a margin of sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points, shows a decrease in support compared to a similar Rasmussen poll published Sept. 18. That poll found that 41% of likely voters opposed the universal health care program while 44% were in favor.
In the November and September polls, 15% were undecided.
While Sanders has conceded that his programs would increase taxes on the middle class, he said he suspects “a lot of people in this country would be delighted to pay more in taxes if they had comprehensive health care as a human right” in a June 13 CNN interview with Anderson Cooper.
Warren, however, recently faced scrutiny fire for her Nov. 1 outline of a Medicare for All plan that would cost the U.S. $52 trillion over 10 years, including $20 trillion in new spending, in which she said the funding would come mostly from taxing billionaires, though experts agree that would not be possible, Fox News reported.
“Warren goes part of the way there with her recent proposal but doesn’t propose enough taxes or spending reduction to pay for her plan,” Heritage Foundation senior policy analyst Adam Michel told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Nov. 5.
“She’s trying really, really hard to say she’s just going to raise taxes on wealthy people, but her proposal doesn’t meet that threshold and still doesn’t finance what she’s proposing,” he added.
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Audrey Conklin is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Medicare for All Press Conference” by Senate Democrats. CC BY 2.0.
