Voters want Medicare expansion, but not at the expense of private plans: Poll

Voters are more inclined to support a public health care option than trade their private insurance to “Medicare for All,” a plan touted by several Democratic presidential candidates, according to a new poll released on Monday.

The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found 67% of voters wanted to expand Medicare to include people younger than 65 but keep the option to have private insurance.

Comparatively, only 41% of respondents wanted to have private health insurance eliminated in favor of a single-payer health care system.

Even Democrats backed Medicare expansion by a larger margin, voting in favor of it by 78% compared to 65% voting for a single-payer option.

Health care has become one of the most divisive issues of the Democratic presidential primary and Medicare for All has shown a stark divide between the progressive and moderate candidates.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernard Sanders of Vermont have both called for the private health insurance industry to be eliminated in favor of Medicare for All, while Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, have all supported Medicare expansion with a public option.

The poll surveyed 900 registered voters — 506 of which said they would vote in the Democratic caucuses or primary — between Sept. 13-16 with a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points for registered voters and 4.4 percentage points for Democratic voters.