“Medicare for All” has once again become a rallying cry for progressives on the 2026 midterms campaign trail. Picking up on a theme that Sen. Bernie Sanders elevated in Democratic politics during his 2016 primary run, the idea that Medicare—a program that provides hospital and physician insurance to elderly Americans should be expanded to cover everyone has considerable popular appeal.

The best way to deal with the healthcare crisis, progressives argue, is to expand an existing program that has proven to be enormously popular: Rather than starting from scratch, why not just build on the program that already works so well?

“Medicare for All” has once again become a rallying cry for progressives on the 2026 midterms campaign trail. Picking up on a theme that Sen. Bernie Sanders elevated in Democratic politics during his 2016 primary run, the idea that Medicare—a program that provides hospital and physician insurance to elderly Americans should be expanded to cover everyone has considerable popular appeal.

The best way to deal with the healthcare crisis, progressives argue, is to expand an existing program that has proven to be enormously popular: Rather than starting from scratch, why not just build on the program that already works so well?

Medicare for All has received strong support across the progressive spectrum, from Sanders to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who wrote a book on the subject and has made the idea a centerpiece of his campaign. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has supported previous Medicare for All proposals, is now distancing himself from such legislation.

Yet what many Americans do not know is that Medicare for All actually has Republican roots. In 1970, when the Republican Party was very different than it is today and U.S. politics had not yet shifted so far to the right, New York Republican Sen. Jacob Javits advanced a proposal that gave birth to the idea.

When Congress created Medicare in 1965, many of its supporters saw it as a first step toward universal coverage for every American regardless of age. The original proposal to provide hospital insurance for older Americans through Social Security emerged out of liberal frustration with President Harry Truman’s failure to enact national healthcare insurance. Truman, the first president to propose such a policy, had faced intense opposition. The American Medical Association (AMA) conducted a fierce campaign against his proposal, warning that it would lead to “socialized medicine.” As Princeton sociologist Paul Starr showed in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Social Transformation of American Medicine, the doctors’ association tapped into the deeply rooted belief, dating back to the rise of modern medicine in the early 20th century, that the doctor-patient relationship was sacrosanct and should remain free of government interference. Physicians found crucial political support in the conservative coalition of southern Democrats and Midwestern Republicans.

During the 1950s, liberals shifted course. Instead of pursuing health........

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