Is Medicare for All a trap for Democrats?

As the campaign for the presidential nomination heats up, the Medicare for All proposal that became popular with Democrats on the stump in 2018 risks pushing Democratic candidates into a trap in 2020. A political party is asking for trouble when it embraces a position on a high-profile issue that most Americans reject. But it’s not easy for a party to avoid this pitfall when a majority of its own members endorse such a position. …

According to the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 56 percent of Americans initially favor the idea of Medicare for All, in part because they believe that they would be able to keep their current insurance if they choose. But when they are told that versions of this proposal would eliminate private health insurance options, support dwindles to just 35 percent.

But here’s the dilemma for Democratic presidential candidates: even when voters who identify as Democrats are told about Medicare for All’s impact on private insurance, 57 percent continue to favor it. CONT.

William A. Galston, Brookings Institution