A Massive Shift In Health Care Politics

As both parties are legislating criticism of socialism, Americans’ support for Medicare For All has intensified to the point where the old attacks may no longer work.

By David Sirota, Sirota

When Medicare For All took center stage in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, opponents undercut growing support for the initiative by honing in on how it would raise taxes and eliminate health insurers.

Those opponents succeeded: Polls at the time showed that while Americans conceptually supported the idea of a government-sponsored system, many didn’t want it to replace private insurance. Surveys showed support for Medicare For All dropped precipitously if the program would eliminate private insurance.

Soon after, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Medicare for All proponent, badly stumbled over the tax and private insurance question and lost her frontrunner status in the presidential primary polls. With party acolytes still valorizing the Affordable Care Act rather than pressing for something better, Democratic voters then nominated avowed Medicare For All opponent Joe Biden, who got elected promising a public health insurance option, and then literally never mentioned it again upon taking office.

That might have been the end of Medicare For All for another generation – except now the ACA is epically and undeniably failing to guarantee “affordable” health care. As private health insurers are now jacking up premiums for tens of millions of Americans, a new poll shows a huge majority of Americans now want Medicare For All – even if it entails eliminating private insurers and raising taxes.