An interesting question is the focus of new work by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press … which is whether Americans would support Medicare if it were being proposed for the first time now, instead of more than 40 years ago.  Polls in the mid-1960s showed wide support for Medicare, while surveys regarding a national health plan now indicate an almost even split between those for and those against the proposals now under consideration.  Pew attributes t his difference in attitude in large part to the public mistrust of government that has arisen in recent decades.