Two thirds of Americans support Medicare for All

Physicians for a National Health Plan blogger Dr. Andrew Coates has posted the first installment of a six part series on the "yes but" attitude toward health care reform, as in "yes, single payer is the most economic and equitable way of structuring health care, but we don't have the votes... the industry would never allow it... people don't want it..." and other arguments put forward by groups like MoveOn and Health Care for American Now.

The series focuses on research on American attitudes about single-payer, which, says series author Kip Sullivan, demonstrates that "approximately two-thirds of Americans support a Medicare-for-all system despite constant attacks on Medicare and the systems of other countries by conservatives. The evidence supporting this statement is rock solid."

Sullivan explores "citizen jury" research that showed overwhelming support for single payer health care going back to the early nineties. Polling data is reviewed, too, as are the arguments made by public option only groups as to why the public is purportedly on their side. The last segment discusses "the wisdom of allowing polls and focus group research to dictate policy and strategy," a good question when so much public information on the issues comes from pro-corporate media.