The Daily Populous Sunday December 14th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by pewresearch.org and submitted by plz-let-me-in

Most Americans (66%) say the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. Far fewer (33%) say it does not, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Nov. 17-30, 2025, among 10,357 U.S. adults.

About two-thirds of U.S. adults say government should make sure all Americans have health care Is it the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (%)? Note: Those who said government should or should not be responsible but did not offer a more specific response are shown but not labeled.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Nov. 17-30, 2025. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Share this chart Share on X Share on Facebook About two-thirds of U.S. adults say government should make sure all Americans have health care Is it the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (%)? Share No government involvement of any kind 7 Continue Medicare/Medicaid 26 Mix of government and private programs 31 Single national government program 35 Yes, government is responsible, DK/Ref. 1 No, government is not responsible, DK/Ref. <1 DK/Ref. 1 Download data as .csv Note: Those who said government should or should not be responsible but did not offer a more specific response are shown but not labeled.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Nov. 17-30, 2025. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Chart Data Share

Yet those who say the federal government has this responsibility are split over how it should ensure coverage:

35% of all adults favor a single national health insurance system run by the government.

31% say insurance should continue to be provided through a mix of private companies and government programs.

Most of those who say the federal government is not responsible for ensuring coverage say it should continue to cover seniors and the very poor through Medicare and Medicaid:

26% of all adults say these programs should continue.

7% say the federal government should not be involved in providing health insurance at all.

How we did this Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand public opinion on the government’s role in providing health insurance. For this analysis, we surveyed 10,357 U.S. adults from Nov. 17 to 30, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Interviews were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, presidential vote (among voters) and other factors. Read more about the ATP’s methodology. Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.

These views are essentially unchanged over the last year. Still, the share of adults who say the government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health coverage remains modestly higher than it was a few years ago (62% in 2021). That primarily reflects a shift in Republicans’ views.

A 59% majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the federal government is not responsible for ensuring health coverage for all, while 41% say it is. Republicans’ views haven’t changed since last year, but the share who say government has this responsibility is 9 percentage points higher than in 2021.

Meanwhile, 90% of Democrats and Democratic leaners say the government has a responsibility to ensure coverage. This includes 52% who say the government should run a single national insurance program and 37% who prefer the current mix of private insurance and government programs. One-in-ten Democrats say the government does not have the responsibility to ensure health care coverage. These views haven’t changed much in recent years.

Share of Americans saying government has a responsibility to ensure health coverage is relatively stable since last year, but up since 2021 Is it the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (%)? Note: No answer responses are not shown.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Nov. 17-30, 2025.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER Share this chart Share on X Share on Facebook Share of Americans saying government has a responsibility to ensure health coverage is relatively stable since last year, but up since 2021 Is it the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (%)? Date Yes, government is responsible No government is not responsible Total 11/30/25 66 33 Total 4/14/24 65 34 Total 7/18/21 62 37 Total 8/2/20 63 37 Total 9/15/19 59 41 Total 8/4/19 62 37 Rep/Lean Rep 11/30/25 41 59 Rep/Lean Rep 4/14/24 40 60 Rep/Lean Rep 7/18/21 32 68 Rep/Lean Rep 8/2/20 34 66 Rep/Lean Rep 9/15/19 30 70 Rep/Lean Rep 8/4/19 31 68 Dem/Lean Dem 11/30/25 90 10 Dem/Lean Dem 4/14/24 88 11 Dem/Lean Dem 7/18/21 87 12 Dem/Lean Dem 8/2/20 88 12 Dem/Lean Dem 9/15/19 83 17 Dem/Lean Dem 8/4/19 87 12 Download data as .csv Note: No answer responses are not shown.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER Chart Data Share

How views differ across demographic groups

Majorities of Americans across income levels say the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. However, adults in lower-income households are particularly likely to say this.

There are wide differences between higher- and lower-income Republicans on this question:

60% of Republicans with lower incomes say ensuring health coverage for all is the federal government’s responsibility. This includes 27% who say this should be done through a single national insurance program.

Far smaller shares of Republicans with middle incomes (36%) and upper incomes (28%) say the government has this responsibility.

Lower-income Republicans are much more likely than those with middle, upper incomes to say government is responsible for ensuring health care coverage Is it the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (%)? Note: Family income tiers are based on adjusted 2024 earnings. No answer responses are not shown.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Nov. 17-30, 2025. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Share this chart Share on X Share on Facebook Lower-income Republicans are much more likely than those with middle, upper incomes to say government is responsible for ensuring health care coverage Is it the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (%)? NET Yes, government is responsible Single national government program Mix of government and private programs Continue Medicare/Medicaid No government involvement of any kind NET No government is not responsible Total 66 35 31 26 7 33 Rep/Lean Rep 41 17 23 46 13 59 Dem/Lean Dem 90 52 37 8 2 10 Lower Income 77 39 37 18 4 23 Middle Income 62 34 27 29 8 37 Upper Income 61 33 28 31 8 39 Rep/Lean Rep Lower Income 60 27 33 32 8 40 Rep/Lean Rep Middle Income 36 15 21 49 15 64 Rep/Lean Rep Upper Income 28 9 19 57 14 72 Dem/Lean Dem Lower Income 89 48 41 8 2 10 Dem/Lean Dem Middle Income 89 55 33 9 1 11 Dem/Lean Dem Upper Income 92 56 35 7 1 8 Download data as .csv Note: Family income tiers are based on adjusted 2024 earnings. No answer responses are not shown.

By contrast, overwhelming majorities of Democrats at all income levels say the federal government is responsible for ensuring health coverage for all. Still, there are modest differences in views of how this should happen:

Majorities of middle-income (55%) and upper-income Democrats (56%) say a single national program should provide insurance for all Americans.

Fewer Democrats with lower incomes (48%) say this.

Americans’ views on whether the federal government has a responsibility to ensure all Americans have health care coverage also vary across other demographic categories, including race and ethnicity, age, and education.

How various groups view government’s responsibility to ensure health coverage Is it the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (%)? * Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.

Note: White, Black and Asian adults include only those who report being one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. No answer responses are not shown.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Nov. 17-30, 2025. PEW RESEARCH CENTER Share this chart Share on X Share on Facebook How various groups view government’s responsibility to ensure health coverage Is it the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (%)? NET Yes, government is responsible Single national government program Mix of government and private programs Continue Medicare/Medicaid No government involvement of any kind NET No, government is not responsible Total 66 35 31 26 7 33 White 59 32 27 31 8 40 Black 85 37 47 12 2 14 Hispanic 75 41 33 19 5 24 Asian* 78 45 32 18 3 21 Ages 18-29 74 46 28 16 9 25 30-49 67 39 27 24 8 32 50-64 63 31 31 30 6 36 65+ 62 23 38 32 4 36 Postgrad 70 40 30 22 7 29 College grad 63 36 27 29 7 36 Some college 65 36 29 26 8 34 HS or less 67 32 34 25 6 31 Download data as .csv * Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.

Note: This is an update of an analysis originally published on Sept. 29, 2020. Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.

DragonTHC on December 13rd, 2025 at 22:13 UTC »

It's in the Constitution. "Promote the general welfare"

twirlingmypubes on December 13rd, 2025 at 21:57 UTC »

What's the point of a government? That's the basic question here. Does it exist for itself or for the populace?

I thought we answered this question back in the 1700s

Rude_Coffee_8499 on December 13rd, 2025 at 21:49 UTC »

Sounds like we should go to a single payer system. If only our representatives actually represented our interests.