Support for single payer climbs as medical groups denounce Graham-Cassidy bill

While a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll found last week found a 49 percent plurality of Americans supporting a single-payer healthcare system, new numbers over the weekend suggest those who favor such a system may be in a slight majority. The latest Harvard-Harris Poll found 52 percent favor a single payer approach, with 48 percent opposed.

Though the numbers are close, it suggests support for single payer has been gaining traction, especially as medical groups are increasingly showing their opposition to the Graham-Cassidy bill pending in Congress, the GOP's latest attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

[Also: Almost half of Americans favor single-payer healthcare system, poll finds]

On Saturday, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, America's Health Insurance Plans and BlueCross BlueShield Association released a joint statement criticizing the Republican plan as inadequate.

"While we sometimes disagree on important issues in healthcare, we are in total agreement that Americans deserve a stable healthcare market that provides access to high-quality care and affordable coverage for all," the groups wrote in the statement, which was posted on Twitter. "The Graham-Cassidy-Heler-Johnson bill does not move us closer to that goal. The Senate should reject it."

[Also: Attitudes towards single payer healthcare are evolving, Merritt Hawkins survey shows]

In the letter, the groups agreed that the bill would cause patients and consumer to lose "important protections" and undermine safeguards for those with pre-existing conditions, resulting in higher premiums for those with significant illnesses and in some cases, coverage that's all but unaffordable.

The groups also said the bill would weaken the individual insurance market, thereby making coverage more expensive; create a "funding cliff" due to deep Medicare cuts, changing the way states provide coverage to vulnerable citizens; and impose an unrealistic timeline for implementation, with state and industry leaders tasked with transforming their individual insurance markets and Medicaid programs in little more than year.

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"Healthcare is too important to get it wrong," the letter said. "Let's take the time to get it right."

The poll, meanwhile, was split along predictably partisan lines. A strong majority of Democrats, 69 percent, support a single payer system, while a similar number of Republicans, 65 percent, oppose it. Independents are split: 51 percent oppose it and 49 percent support it.

Fifty-two percent said a government-run system would save the healthcare system money, and the same number said it would improve the efficiency of the healthcare system.

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com