Is private health insurance as “beloved” as Trump says?

 

President Trump is known for bizarre tweets, but this one does Democrats a particularly big favor.

Polling data shows Americans clearly DON’T love private health insurance companies and prefer Medicare.

Only 8% of Medicare beneficiaries 65 or over rated their coverage “fair” or “poor,” the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund found.

By comparison, 20% of those with employer-based coverage gave their insurance plan low marks. And 33% of people who bought insurance on their own reported unhappiness with their coverage.

In fact, trust in private health insurance companies has reached an all-time low.

With premiums and deductibles “far too high” as President Trump said, who wouldn’t want to lose their private health insurance in favor of Medicare?

Indeed, 56 percent of Americans surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation would prefer to get their health insurance from the federal government…and government health care has become even more popular with the phrase “Medicare for All” — phrasing that Trump used in his tweet.

Republicans are terrified of the idea of Medicare for All because of the additional tax burden it would create, particularly for their wealthy donors and the damage to private insurance schemes.

But would that be such a big loss? Is Trump saying that the Democrats are threatening us with a good time?