New data from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s September 2026 Health Tracking Poll reveals a growing public appetite for Medicare-for-all, with two-thirds of Americans now favoring a single government health plan covering all citizens. This represents a new high in KFF’s long-running tracking of the issue, with support rising from 66% in 2020 and opposition falling to 34%.
The shift occurs amid increasing concern over health care costs, as U.S. adults struggle to afford treatments and medications. Democrats overwhelmingly back the idea (84%), while independents show increased support at 72%, up from 57% six years ago. Even among Republicans, one-third now favor the proposal, a notable increase from 21% in 2020. However, most Republicans remain opposed, with 48% strongly rejecting the plan.
A Bipartisan Consensus for Bigger Government
The trend toward greater support for a national health plan is not limited to Medicare-for-all itself. Across partisan lines, a vast majority of Americans—79%—favor the federal government taking a larger role in providing health insurance, according to the same KFF poll. This bipartisan consensus has persisted for over a decade, with KFF data dating back to 2006 showing consistent support for expanded federal involvement in health care.
KFF polling consistently shows that public opinion on Medicare-for-all fluctuates depending on how the question is framed. When respondents learn the plan would guarantee health insurance as a right or eliminate premiums and out-of-pocket costs, support rises to as high as three-quarters (75%). Conversely, favorability falls to as low as one in four when people hear it could lead to delays in getting medical tests or treatment, to about one-third when they hear it could raise taxes, and to about four in ten when they hear it could threaten the current Medicare program.
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Mixed Expectations for the Plan’s Impact
The public has mixed expectations about how a Medicare-for-all plan would affect them personally, but these expectations generally lean more negative than positive. About one-third (35%) say their ability to afford the health care they need would get better if the U.S. adopted Medicare-for-all, while 28% say it would get worse and 37% say it would stay about the same. On other aspects of their care, more U.S. adults expect things to get worse or stay about the same.
The largest share, about six in ten (61%) adults, expect the amount they pay in taxes to be “worse” under a Medicare-for-all plan, while one in ten say this would be “better” and three in ten (29%) say it would be “about the same.” Notably, adults who favor Medicare-for-all appear to support such a plan despite having mixed views on how it would impact them personally.
While about half (48%) of Medicare-for-all supporters say their ability to afford the health care they need would get better under such a plan, the same share (48%) expects the amount they pay in taxes to get worse. At the same time, at least half of those who support Medicare-for-all say their own access to providers, wait times, and insurance paperwork would remain about the same.
About six in ten (57%) adults with private health insurance, either through an employer or purchased themselves, say it is likely they would be able to keep their current health insurance if the U.S. adopted Medicare-for-all, including seven in ten privately insured adults who favor Medicare-for-all.
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This misconception is not new. In a KFF poll from 2019, as Medicare-for-all was debated in the Democratic presidential primary, most adults with private health insurance incorrectly said they would likely be able to keep their own insurance under a national plan. Notably, most Medicare-for-all proposals, including legislation introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2017, would replace most current private health insurance with a single government plan.
A Long History of Public Support
Prior to the focus on Medicare-for-all in 2017, KFF polls tracked questions about support for a single-payer health plan back to 1998. These polls showed that fewer than half of adults supported a national health plan until 2016, when it became a focus of the Democratic presidential primary with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
In KFF polls conducted from 1998 to 2004, about four in ten adults favored a national health plan while a majority opposed it. During the 2008-2009 health reform debate, an average of seven KFF polls shows just under half of adults supported the plan (46%) and about half opposed it (49%). By February 2016, half of adults favored a national health plan while about four in ten (43%) opposed it.
Polling shows that the terminology used affects public opinion on a national health plan. A KFF Health Tracking Poll from April 2019 found that majorities of adults had positive reactions to the terms “universal health c
