More than half of Republicans in a new American Barometer poll say they support “Medicare for all,” also known as a single-payer health-care system. The survey, conducted by Hill TV and the Harris polling company*, found that 52 percent of Republicans polled said they supported the option, while 48 percent said they opposed it. Twenty-five percent said they “strongly” supported “Medicare for all,” while 27 percent said they “somewhat” supported it.
Twenty-two percent said they “somewhat” opposed the idea, while 26 percent said they “strongly” opposed it.
Democrats are currently trying to make health care, along with “Medicare for all,” a central campaign issue. Republican leaders, including President Trump, have slammed the idea, saying it would ultimately fail if it were put into action. “In practice, the Democratic Party’s so-called Medicare for All would really be Medicare for None,” Trump wrote in a USA Today op-ed. “Under the Democrats’ plan, today’s Medicare would be forced to die.”
However, other polling has shown that the increased attention on “Medicare for all” could be peeling away senior citizens’ support of Republicans in the midterms. A Morning Consult survey released last week found that 52 percent of voters whose top issues are Medicare and Social Security said they would vote for a Democrat in the midterms.
Highly embarrassed Republicans, who assumed that so-called “socialised medicine” was anathema to their voters, are only beginning to think about how to “message” this about- turn. It is likely to be the start of a long debate.
My comment: Actually the barrier to introducing a modern and workable health system is not necesarily the Republican party – it is the for-profit healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, who will spend lavishly among impressionable congressmen to kill any idea of going the way of Europe when it comes to healthcare. The corruption – because that’s what it is – is massive and, at this moment, insurmountable. Everything you see and touch and experience has to be monetised to the nth degree for the benefit of political donors and the super-rich. If Epicureanism stands for peace of mind and a pleasant life, then no Epicurean can in good conscience support the present system.
* The American Barometer was conducted on October 19-20 among 1,000 registered voters. The sampling margin of error is 3.1 percentage points. (Julia Manchester, The Hill, 23 Oct 2018)
America faces two choices. It can either cut Medicare and Social Security when the markets begin to worry about the increasing deficit. Or it can raise taxes, mostly effectively done by removing the cap on earnings which are subject to the payroll tax, ensuring higher earners pay the same as the middle class. Because the latter is more popular than the former, Democrats should make entitlements a prominent issue in their campaign.
On healthcare, I think a move towards Medicare for all is only a matter of time. As David Frum of The Atlantic says, Republicans have lost the argument on healthcare. Defending a system where some people are uninsured will soon become electoral suicide as the Affordable Care Act becomes entrenched in the economy.