Nearly 60% of Democrats say they’re more likely to support universal healthcare coverage amid the spread of the coronavirus, according to a new poll.
The survey, published by the Morning Consult on Sunday, found 39% of Democrats are “much more likely” to support universal healthcare because of the COVID-19 outbreak and 20% of Democrats are “somewhat more likely” to support the coverage.
Nearly 30% of Democrats polled said they “were neither more nor less likely” to support universal healthcare.
“As COVID-19 looms over the election, the poll suggests Democrats — who seized a House majority in 2018 in part by highlighting the Trump administration’s failure to reduce the share of uninsured and demonstrated commitment to undermining the Affordable Care Act — will have a strong argument for proposals to expand health care to all, in the context of an infectious disease outbreak that does not discriminate,” Morning Consult said.
The study shows more than 2 in 5 adults are now more likely to support universal healthcare. Thirty-five percent of adults said the virus has not changed their likelihood of supporting the government providing health coverage to all people in the United States, and 12% said the outbreak has made them less likely to support the health proposals.
Republicans polled were 14% “much more likely” to support universal care, with 11% “somewhat more likely.” However, 21% of Republicans were “much less likely” to support the government providing healthcare for all.
President Trump declared a national emergency in response to the virus last week.
“To unleash the full power of the federal government, I’m officially declaring a national emergency — two very big words,” Trump said during a news conference in the White House Rose Garden.
As of Monday morning, there were more than 3,770 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. and 69 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced yesterday that the city’s school system would shut down to mitigate the spread of the virus after teachers threatened a “mass sickout.” States, including Minnesota and New Hampshire, have also ordered school districts to shut down over the virus.
The Morning Consult poll was conducted online from March 12-13 with 2,000 participants and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
