Public Opinion in The United States
Advocates of single-payer point to wide support in polls, although the polling is mixed depending on how the question is asked:
| Poll source | Question asked/ summary |
For | Against | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard University/Haris | 1988 | Choice between Canadian system in which "the government pays most of the cost of health care for everyone out of taxes and the government sets all fees charged by hospitals and doctors…" and US system. | 61% | N/A |
| Los Angeles Times | 1990 | In the Canadian system of national health insurance, the government pays most of the cost of health care out of taxes and the government sets all fees charged by doctors and hospitals. Under the Canadian system – which costs the taxpayers less than the American system – people can choose their own doctors and hospitals. On balance, would you prefer the Canadian system or the system we have here in the United States? | 66% | N/A |
| Wall Street Journal/NBC | 1991 | Do you favor or oppose the US having a universal government-paid health care system like they have in Canada? | 69% | 20% |
| Washington Post/ABC News | October 2003 | Which would you prefer – (the current health insurance system in the United States, in which most people get their health insurance from private employers, but some people have no insurance); or (a universal health insurance program, in which everyone is covered under a program like Medicare that's run by the government and financed by taxpayers?) | 62% | 33% |
| Civil Society Institute | 2004 | Other major nations, such as Canada and England, guarantee their citizens health insurance on the job, through government programs, or via a nonprofit source. Would it be a good or bad idea for the United States to adopt the same approach to providing health care to everyone? | 67% | 27% |
| New York Times/CBS News | February 2007 | Do you think the federal government should guarantee health insurance for all Americans, or isn't this the responsibility of the federal government? | 64% | 27% |
| CNN | May 2007 | Do you think the government should provide a national health insurance program for all Americans, even if this would require higher taxes? | 64% | 35% |
| Associated Press/Yahoo | December 2007 | Do you consider yourself a supporter of a single-payer health care system, that is a national health plan financed by taxpayers in which all Americans would get their insurance from a single government plan, or not? | 54% | 44% |
| New York Times/CBS News | February 2009 | 59% say the government should provide national health insurance, including 49% who say such insurance should cover all medical problems. | 59% | 32% |
| Quinnipiac University (in FL, OH and PA) | April 2008 | Do you think it's the government's responsibility to make sure that everyone in the United States has adequate health-care, or don't you think so? | 64%–FL 62%–OH 65%–PA | 32%–FL 34%–OH 31%–PA |
| Time Magazine | July 2009 | Would you favor or oppose a program that creates a national single-payer plan similar to Medicare for all, in which the government would provide healthcare insurance to all Americans? | 49% | 46% |
| Kaiser Family Foundation | July 2009 | Do you favor or oppose, "Having a national health plan in which all Americans would get their insurance through an expanded, universal form of Medicare-for all?" | 58% | 38% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 2011 | Do you favor or oppose a single-payer health care system where the federal government provides coverage for everyone? | 35% | 49% |
Politifact rated a statement by Michael Moore "false" when he stated that "he majority actually want single-payer health care." According to Politifact, responses on these polls largely depend on the wording. For example, people respond more favorably when they are asked if they want a system "like Medicare."
Read more about this topic: Single-payer Health Care
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