Most Democratic voters are drawn to Medicare for All but may challenge the party in 2020.
Private health insurance and other components of healthcare reform have been a central issue among Democratic presidential candidates. Those politicians have been pitching their own versions of Medicare and medical coverage which may make things somewhat more complex for the candidates in 2020 according to a new Wall Street Journal and NBC news poll.
Two out of every three voters support opening Medicare coverage up to anyone who wants to buy in.
This is not unlike a concept put forward by a number of Democratic candidates, including former Vice President Joe Biden, said a recent Wall Street Journal report. The survey results showed that two thirds of U.S. voters also believe that young adults who arrived in the country illegally should be permitted to remain. This is a concept supported by many of the party’s presidential candidates.
The poll showed that about 56 percent of registered voters wouldn’t want a Medicare for All system that would eliminate private health insurance. The type of plan Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and a number of others have proposed would put private plans to an end.
The poll tested 12 policy ideas some that would keep and some that would dump private health insurance.
Of the 12 policies tested by the poll, the least popular among the poll’s respondents were those that would provide government-sponsored health care to undocumented immigrants. Sixty two percent of the electorate rejected policies that would offer that coverage. That said, during a Democratic debate back in June, all 10 candidates on the stage, including both Sanders and Biden, raised their hands when the group was asked who supported the concept.
The new survey showed that while 64 percent of Democratic primary voters supported that idea, only 36 percent of voters overall were in favor of it.
These findings place the spotlight on some of the challenges the Democratic Party is facing regarding 
which specific efforts it should support in terms of private health insurance, Medicare availability and eligibility, and who would be able to receive federal support.
