Memo: Polling a Public Option for Health Insurance

By Ethan Winter

Executive Summary

  • Voters support the creation of a public option for health insurance that doesn’t include a deductible by a 37 percentage point margin. 

  • Voters support automatically enrolling every uninsured person into a public option for health insurance by a 27 percentage point margin.

  • Voters prefer that this automatic enrollment scheme be paid for with taxes (+27 percentage points) rather than insurance premiums (+18 percentage points). 

  • A plurality of voters (36 percentage points) see a public option as just a first step towards truly universal coverage. 

As part of a June survey, Data for Progress sought to test support among likely voters for a public option for health insurance. We tested an array of proposals, including the creation of a public option, automatically enrolling the uninsured on this public option, and whether this public option would be paid for via taxes or a premium structure. 

Guest UserHealthcare, Taxes and Spending, Economy