Many Democrats giddy from their recent health policy successes are starting to reach enthusiastically for a mountaintop goal: establishing a single-payer system for all Americans. …
“Democrats are overwhelmingly for something that sounds like an all-government or significantly government-run system,” said Robert Blendon, a health policy professor at Harvard who studies public opinion. “At this stage, most people that are saying that don’t know what the ‘it’ is.” …
For now, the top Democrats in Congress have yet to embrace a single-payer bill. … Their hesitance may reflect the challenging politics of the issue, despite the recent increase in support. The polls suggest that many voters may be more taken with the single-payer slogan than with the nuts and bolts. A recent survey by Kaiser found that initial support of 55 percent for single-payer dropped by about a third when supporters were told of criticisms that it might increase their taxes, give the government “too much control” over health care or eliminate the Affordable Care Act. Each of those critiques would probably be made prominently by Republican opponents of the policy. CONT.
Margot Sanger-Katz, New York Times