Congressional Republicans may be trying once again to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act with a more market-based approach, but a new poll finds that almost half of Americans favor a plan more in line with the single-payer offering served up earlier this year by progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows a plurality of voters, 49 percent, said they support a single-payer health system in which all Americans would get their insurance from one government plan. Only 35 percent oppose a single-payer system, while 17 percent of voters expressed no opinion.
[Also: Attitudes towards single payer healthcare are evolving, Merritt Hawkins survey shows]
Perhaps unsurprisingly, support was stronger among Democrats. Two-thirds support a single-payer system, while only 18 percent oppose it. That's a jump even from earlier this year, when a previous POLITICO/Morning Consult pill found 54 percent of Democrats in favor of such a plan.
Support for single-payer has been gaining steam of late. It has become more popular among voters than the so-called "public option," a government-run health insurance agency that would offer coverage in competition with private health insurance companies. Just 44 percent of voters back a public option, though a scant 33 percent oppose it (22 percent have no opinion).
[Also: Senate Democrats don't fall for fake single payer amendment]
Republicans polled generally oppose both the single-payer approach and a public option, although the opposition has been dwindling. Single-payer garnered 33 percent support among the GOP against 52 percent who are opposed, but the line on a public option was more even -- 36 percent support versus 43 percent opposition.
The poll was conducted from September 14-17 among 1,994 registered voters, and has a margin of error of 2 percent.
[Also: Single payer healthcare proposal introduced in California Senate]
On other issues, 62 percent of respondents said they support a proposal to make four-year public colleges and universities tuition-free, while 29 percent oppose it; and 43 percent support a universal base income, while 39 percent oppose it.
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com