Support For Single-Payer HealthCare is Increasing

More than Half of Americans Support Single Payer (According to Kaiser Health Tracking Poll)

A June Kaiser Health Tracking poll finds that a slim majority of the public (53%) now favors a single-payer health care.

What is single payer? Single payer is a health insurance solution (not a healthcare delivery solution) where all Americans would get insurance from a single government plan (a system like Medicare, but “for all” Americans).

Here are some key facts from the study:

• Over four in ten (43%) are opposed to single payer. So support is increasing, but opposition is still rather high.
• This is somewhat higher than the level of support found in similar polls in 1998. From 1998 through 2004,  roughly four in ten supported a national health plan, while about half were opposed. In polling from 2008-2009, the period leading up to passage of the ACA, the public was more evenly divided, with about half in favor of a single-payer plan and half opposed.
• The recent increase in support for single-payer has largely been driven by an increase among independents.
• Not surprisingly, there are partisan divisions in how the public feels about single-payer health care, with a majority of Democrats (64 percent) and just over half independents (55 percent) in favor and a majority of Republicans (67 percent) opposed.

The bottom line: Support for single payer is higher than ever, but America is still divided on the issue by party lines. We can see strong support from Democrats and increasing support from independents, and can finally claim “more than half of Americans support single payer, according to at least one Kaiser health tracking poll!” Get all the facts from the study at KFF.org.