Medicare Blog

what americans think social research medicare for all

by Cheyanne Boehm III Published 1 year ago Updated 1 year ago
image

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 55% of Americans believe they'll be able to keep their plans under Medicare for All. Sixty-eight percent of Democrats

Democratic Party

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with its rival, the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded arou…

say workers would be allowed to keep their private employer-sponsored plans; 65% think those with individual-market coverage could do the same.

Full Answer

What do Americans think about Medicare for all?

When survey participants were asked about their views on a “Medicare for all”–type approach 8 — specifically, one in which a public program like Medicare becomes the only health insurance option for everyone — just over a quarter (27%) of adults said they were in favor of it.

What are the prospects for Medicare for all?

List of authors. U.S. “Medicare for All” is an idea for the long run. Its prospects of eventual enactment will be determined by our shifting views on a right to health care, likely cost savings, economic inequality, and the role of government in the lives of Americans.

How is Medicare for all funded?

The specifics vary a bit plan to plan. In Jayapal’s bill, for instance, Medicare for All would be funded by the federal government, using money that otherwise would go to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs that pay for health services. But when you get right down to it, the funding for all the plans comes down to taxes.

Is ‘Medicare for all’ a good idea?

Ask someone what they think about the idea of “Medicare for All” — that is, one national health insurance plan for all Americans — and you’ll likely hear one of two opinions: One, that it sounds great and could potentially fix the country’s broken healthcare system. Or two, that it would be the downfall of our country’s (broken) healthcare system.

image

What percentage of adults are in favor of Medicare?

When survey participants were asked about their views on a “Medicare for all”–type approach 8 — specifically, one in which a public program like Medicare becomes the only health insurance option for everyone — just over a quarter (27%) of adults said they were in favor of it. But two in five adults (40%) said they did not know enough to say whether they favored or opposed such an approach.

How many people completed the SSRS survey?

To conduct the survey, the survey research firm SSRS interviewed a nationally representative sample of 4,914 adults ages 19 to 64 from March 19 through June 9, 2019. Seventy percent of respondents completed the questionnaire by landline or cell phone, while 30 percent completed it online after being contacted by mail.

What are the factors that affect the uninsured rate?

After dropping significantly following the major coverage reforms in 2014, the U.S. uninsured rate has held steady or slightly increased, as our survey and others have shown. Four primary factors are at play: 1 Many states have not expanded Medicaid eligibility. 2 Premiums can be unaffordable for people with incomes just over the marketplace subsidy threshold ($48,560 for an individual or $100,400 for a family of four). 3 Congress and the Trump administration have passed laws and taken executive actions on the ACA, such as repealing the individual mandate penalty and encouraging states to enact work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries. 4 Lack of access to subsidized coverage among undocumented immigrants.

What percentage of uninsured people did not get health insurance in 2019?

This translates into about 11 percent of all uninsured adults. 5. About 18 percent of U.S. adults shopped for health insurance in the ACA marketplaces in 2019.

What are the Democratic proposals for health reform?

Their proposals range from building on the ACA’s coverage expansions, such as providing more generous subsidies for those purchasing coverage, to creating a public plan option or reorganizing the health system to make a public plan like Medicare the nation’s primary source of coverage.

How many people will not get health insurance in 2021?

The Congressional Budget Office is projecting that about 7 million people will lack coverage because of the penalty repeal by 2021. 12

What percentage of adults are not too confident?

Thirty-eight percent of all adults were either not too confident or not at all confident they would be able to afford their care. This included 29 percent of those with employer coverage, 39 percent of those with Medicaid, and 41 percent with individual-market plans.

What Medicare was and what it was meant to be

Striking the words “over 65” from the Medicare statutes was an idea championed by the late Senator Daniel Moynihan. Moynihan, who held several roles in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, was an original architect of the War on Poverty and a central figure in the evolution of health care policy in the latter 20th century.

Giving Medicare to everyone

Single-payer, in its purest form, means the government becomes everyone’s insurer, and private insurance is largely dropped as redundant. This is the way health insurance is provided in the United Kingdom and Canada, as well as other countries like Taiwan. Sanders’s plan would follow this framework.

Substantial savings

Something that often gets lost in the debate over the cost of single-payer is that its implementation would lead to a host of savings that make the bill to taxpayers a lot less than the sticker price.

One small step

While $618 billion still seems like a hefty price tag, taxes wouldn’t have to be raised much to pay for it.

What is Medicare for all?

What Medicare for All Really Looks Like. The Canadian system, also called Medicare, guarantees coverage to every resident north of the U.S. border. He spends long days navigating Toronto’s miserable traffic, finding whatever’s needed for his work as a freelance production designer for film and commercials. It’s demanding physical labor, ...

How do Canadians and Americans view their relationship to government-financed or -run services?

A fundamental conceptual difference also divides how Canadians and Americans view their relationship to using government-financed or -run services. Classic American insistence on the bedrock values of individualism, self-reliance, and shunning government aid as a sign of moral failure differs radically from that of Canadians, who are more committed politically and economically to health care equity as a collective good. Consistently receiving free health care and heavily subsidized university and college tuition fees means that Canadians of all ages and income levels experience firsthand a consistent, quantifiable return on their tax dollars.

Why are hospitals in Canada so frustrated?

One key reason for this frustration is that hospitals in Canada receive global budgets annually from the MOH. They must figure out how to serve patients within that budget. This can create efficiency and limit unnecessary treatments. But in addition, patients in Canada are not seen as sources of revenue but as costs, explains Sukhera, who is president of the Ontario Psychiatric Association and an activist for health care improvement. “That transforms how we treat patients and provide care. The way we organize payments makes it hard to improve quality,” he says.

How did the Canadian healthcare system evolve?

The Canadian system evolved through decades of political debate, battles, and negotiations with physicians and insurance companies. The debate continues even today, says Yalnizyan. “It’s the zombie conversation. We have the same conversation every 25 years. Health care is both a market failure and a market magnet because there’s money to be made. That conflict of public and private interests will never go away!”

Who founded the National Health Plan?

Still in New York, Queenan attended a local meeting of Physicians for a National Health Plan, an American advocacy group founded in 1985 by Dr. Steffie Woolhandler and Dr. David Himmelstein, “trying to decide what was next. I was on the cusp of turning 40 and saw a career of fighting stupid fights. Doctors across the country were going through exactly what I was going through. I am not unique.”

Is Canadian health care public or private?

Canadian health care is publicly funded and privately delivered , approximately the same vision that single-payer enthusiasts have for the American system. It even shares the same name as our largest government-run insurance provider: Medicare. But contrary to persistent American partisan mythmaking, no government officials sit in doctors’ offices or haunt hospital hallways with a checklist of all the services they’ll question and deny. They don’t dictate hands-on care. Canadians face little government interference or oversight of their health care, although, for historical reasons, their doctors retain much more power than patients.

Who was the Liberal minority government in 1966?

In 1966, the Liberal minority government of Lester B. Pearson committed the federal government to paying 50 percent of health care costs, with the provinces paying the other half. The federal burden has shrunk over time.

Who is the mover of Medicare for All?

Michael Lighty, the mover of the Medicare for All amendment at both the 2016 and 2020 DNC platform hearings, said at this year's hearing, “It’s vital that we meet this moment that demands health justice and Medicare for All to address the health inequities exposed by the COVID 19 pandemic…Nobel Prize winning economist Angus Deaton has said has said that private insurance financing is an engine of inequality in our system…We cannot solve it with a public option.”

What is the Democratic Platform for Health Care?

The draft Democratic Platform's health care provisions contain a number of substantial policy proposals worthy of support. It calls for a massive expansion of community health centers and rural clinics, greater access to mental health and substance abuse treatment, improvements in long term care and it proposes a workaround to cover the working poor ineligible for Medicaid because of their state’s refusal to accept federal funding for ACA Medicaid expansion. It would fully fund the Indian Health Service and it asserts all health care workers’ right to a living wage and to bargain collectively free from employer coercion.

Is Medicare for All politically feasible?

But they would maintain that Medicare for All is not politically feasible. Their mantra is, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” In effect, they are saying that the power of the medical industrial complex is so great that it can forever stifle the clearly articulated political will of the majority of the American people who support a demonstrably superior health care system.

How many Americans believe the government is responsible for health care?

Among the public overall, 63% of U.S. adults say the government has the responsibility to provide health care coverage for all, up slightly from 59% last year.

What percentage of Republicans say the government does not have the responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage?

Among Republicans and Republican leaners, a 66% majority says the government does not have the responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. Among the one-third of Republicans who say the government does have this responsibility, opinion is divided over whether or not it should be provided through a single government program ...

How should health insurance be provided?

When asked how the government should provide health insurance coverage, 36% of Americans say it should be provided through a single national government program, while 26% say it should continue to be provided through a mix of private insurance companies and government programs. This is a change from about a year ago, when nearly equal shares supported a “single payer” health insurance program (30%) and a mix of government programs and private insurers (28%).

How many Republicans say the government should not be involved in providing health insurance?

Only 11% of Republicans say the government should not be involved at all in providing health insurance. While divisions remain within the Democratic Party about the best way to provide health insurance, increasing shares across most demographic and ideological groups support a single national government program.

Which party is more likely to support health insurance?

Very liberal Democrats, who in 2019 constituted 15% of Democratic registered voters, are far more likely than liberal Democrats (32% of Democrats) and moderates and conservatives (51%) to say that health insurance should be provided by a single government program.

Which group of Democrats is more likely to support a single national program?

White Democrats remain more likely than those of other races and ethnicities to support a single national program, but White, Black and Hispanic Democrats have each increased their support for a single national program by about 10 percentage points since last year.

Who has the responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage?

By Bradley Jones. A majority of Americans continue to say the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. And since last year, there has been an increase – especially among Democrats – in the share saying health insurance should be provided by a single national program run by the government.

image
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9