Why Don’t Any U.S. States Have Single-Payer Healthcare?
Depending on the poll question and sample size, single-payer has received on average about 30% — 60% U.S. support…
- Kaiser Family Foundation (5/13–5/18): 57% favor
- Business Insider (3/13–3/14): 49% favor
- Quinnipiac (11/21–11/25): 36% favor
- The Economist/YouGov (9/14–9/17): 45% favor
- CBS News (8/28–9/4): 57% favor
- RealClearOpinion (4/30–5/5): 55% favor
And according to the Washington Post, a majority of House Democrats now support Medicare for All.
No matter how we slice it there’s a sizable chunk of the American electorate, especially among Democrats, who support single-payer healthcare.
And so if this policy is so popular among Democrats then why hasn’t it been implemented by at least one Democrat-majority state, such as California, New York, Massachusetts, or Vermont?
For one, the problem with state-based single-payer healthcare is the federal government already plays a major role in providing and regulating the industry. About 17% of Americans are on Medicare, which is a federal health insurance program, but a state can work around that by filling the gap, i.e. people under 65 who aren’t disabled would be put into the…
