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Pramila Jayapal, a Washington state congresswoman, is one of hundreds of Democrats now running on single-payer healthcare, a monumental shift to the left for the party which – even when it controlled Congress and the White House in 2009 – passed a health policy overhaul which buttressed the private insurance system for almost a decade – Obamacare.

“We did a poll in swing districts,” said Jayapal, “The numbers were off the charts.” Not only did the Pac’s survey find liberals supported Medicare for All, she said, but “independents responded incredibly well.”

A recent survey by the union National Nurses United found 225 Democratic candidates in the House running explicitly on single-payer healthcare.

“It is a very, very popular policy, and it’s popular out of necessity,” said Jayapal. “People see what we have just doesn’t work. It’s costing way too much.”

“Medicare for All” refers to the popular public health insurance program for the elderly, called Medicare. Passed in 1965 with Medicaid, its sister program for the impoverished and disabled, the single-payer program covers all Americans older than 65, and many more who are disabled.

Along with other public health insurance programs, such as for veterans, the military and Native Americans, the US already provides health insurance for nearly 100 million people, said Chris Sloan, a director at the health consulting company Avalere.



“Public opinion has shifted,” he said. “That is why [healthcare has] become more of a defensive issue for Republicans and an offensive issue for Democrats.”