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High Support for Medicare for All as Midterm Voters Face Medical Costs
Confirmed
In Short: The poll highlights voter dissatisfaction with the current healthcare landscape, particularly among those who have experienced financial strain due to medical expenses.
The poll highlights voter dissatisfaction with the current healthcare landscape, particularly among those who have experienced financial strain due to medical expenses.
Christina Starks-Clay, a voter, exemplifies this sentiment. She is willing to support Medicare for All despite not fully understanding its mechanics, indicating a broader public desire for change.
Healthcare workers at a recent event described patients choosing between affording medication or food, and how they themselves had been financially devastated by medical crises.
Jonathan Oberlander, a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, noted, “Too many people don’t have health insurance, too many people who do have insurance can’t afford medical care, and many people are terrified about the costs of being sick.”
Ashley Kirzinger, director of survey methodology at KFF, said, “In an electorate that wants change, that is disenchanted with the status quo, Medicare for All is an important symbol.”
The poll also found that many people are unsure of how to define Medicare for All, indicating a need for clearer communication about the policy.
Healthcare advocates are using the momentum to push for reforms that address the rising costs and financial burdens of medical care.
Starks-Clay’s willingness to support Medicare for All underscores the public’s desire for change, even if they do not fully understand the policy’s mechanics.
The poll results reflect a broader trend of voter dissatisfaction with the current healthcare landscape, particularly among those who have experienced financial strain due to medical expenses.
When asked what they want to hear from candidates regarding healthcare, voters are seeking a plan to bring down healthcare costs.
The poll adds to the understanding that while support for Medicare for All is high, many people do not fully understand what it entails.
What this adds
The poll highlights growing disenchantment with the current healthcare system, where many struggle with high deductibles and medical bills.
Starks-Clay’s willingness to support Medicare for All, despite not fully understanding its mechanics, underscores the public’s desire for change.
The poll adds to the understanding that while support for Medicare for All is high, many people do not fully understand what it entails.
What's confirmed
- A professor emeritus at nearby Michigan State University worried aloud about his grandkids’ medical care, because his adult kids were struggling to meet a $9,000 insurance deductible.
- Support for Medicare for All is at its highest in at least a decade, according to a new KFF poll.
- The survey found two-thirds of Americans now favor expanding the government health program that largely covers seniors (about half of whom are enrolled in private plans through Medicare Advantage).
- “Too many people don’t have health insurance, too many people who do have insurance can’t afford medical care, and many people are terrified about the costs of being sick,” said Jonathan Oberlander, a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill who specializes in the politics of healthcare reform.
- “And in an electorate that wants change, that is disenchanted with the status quo, Medicare for All is an important symbol,” he said.
- To Starks-Clay, that means he has a plan and will “stick to it,” she said.
- That’s appealing to voters right now, said Ashley Kirzinger, director of survey methodology at KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.
- — Christina Starks-Clay doesn’t know how “Medicare for All” would work exactly, but she’s willing to bet it’d be better than what she has now.
- It was of the $1,000 cashier’s check she’d picked up at the bank that day to pay down a chunk of her son’s dental bills.
- A man ahead of Starks-Clay talked about watching his brother rack up thousands of dollars in medical debt.
- Healthcare workers who’d turned up for the event described patients choosing between affording medication or food, or how they themselves had been financially devastated by a medical crisis.
- “I’m like, ‘Tina, OK, you were in a position for this moment to do this,’” she said.
What's still developing
- This story was produced in partnership with KFF Health News.
- Her own cleaning a few weeks before had cost $600.
- NEW YORK — Most Americans now favor government-paid health insurance for all, according to a new poll, as voters across party lines see major healthcare reforms as a priority less than a month before midterm elections to decide control of the U.S. Congress.
- Donald Trump's approval rating is near its lowest levels of his second term, with recent polls showing declines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
- People participate in a rally on the 61st Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, across from Bellevue Hospital in New York City, July 30.
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