Most American Voters Are Willing To Pay Higher Taxes For Universal Health Care, Says Poll
The latest Hill-Harris X poll reveals that 55 percent of the registered voters polled are willing to take a tax hike in order to provide universal health care for Americans. Conversely, 45 percent of individuals polled would not support such tax increases, Newsweek reports.
The survey revealed that political affiliation was connected to support for raising taxes to fund universal health care. In particular, 73 of respondents who self-identified as Democrats were in support of such an increase, compared to 37 percent of self-identified Republicans who were opposed.
Bernie Sanders‘ “Medicare for All” plan has become one of the defining factors of the 2020 election, with candidates either for or against the bill. Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker are in favor of the bill, which would abolish private insurance in favor of a single-payer, government-run plan that includes all Americans.
While Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard have expressed support for Medicare for All, they appear to have broken from Sanders’ bill and say they would keep private healthcare available. To what degree they would keep private insurance is unclear, as neither has released a comprehensive plan to date.
Joe Biden is in support of allowing private health care to remain and said Warren’s plan is an attempt to “muddy the waters even further,” while Pete Buttigieg flipped in his support of Medicare for All and is now in favor of allowing people to keep their private insurance while still offering public health care. Amy Klobuchar has supported public health care options and claims that Medicare for All is an “aspirational” notion that has yet to become a policy.
Tom Steyer is in favor of expanding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and public options but would keep private insurance.
Progressive policies with >50% of public support:
?Medicare for All
?Green New Deal
?$15 Min Wage
?Right to Abortion Care
?Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants
?Assault Rifle Bans@USProgressives are the people's voice & I'm proud to co-chair with my friend @RepJayapal pic.twitter.com/Nh8DYent8y— Rep. Mark Pocan (@RepMarkPocan) November 20, 2019
Per Al Jazeera, October’s debate saw a focus on Warren and her claim that her Medicare for All healthcare plan would not increase taxes on middle-class families. Opponents blasted her refusal to provide a simple “yes or no” answer — a criticism that has been leveled from many political commentators throughout her campaign.
According to Warren, “costs will go down” for the middle class under her plan.
“I have made clear what my principles are here, and that is that costs will go up for the wealthy and for big corporations and, for hard-working middle-class families, costs will go down.”
While Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, believes Americans should be able to keep their private insurance, she expressed that Democratic candidates risk being dragged down by the debate, per The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Let’s stop killing ourselves about what’s pure and not pure,” she said.
