Poll: Voters rate Sanders most honest on how plan affects health costs

Voters rated Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersSanders urges impeachment trial 'quickly' in the Senate The media have fallen out of love with Bernie, but have voters? Steyer rolls out 5B plan to invest in historically black colleges MORE (I-Vt.) the most honest of the Democratic presidential candidates when it comes to how their health care plans would affect individuals’ costs. 

The Morning Consult poll finds that 49 percent of all voters rate Sanders as honest on the question, compared to 20 percent who don’t know and 31 percent who say he’s dishonest. 

In comparison, former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenThe media have fallen out of love with Bernie, but have voters? Top Zelensky aide refutes Sondland testimony The great AI debate: What candidates are (finally) saying about artificial intelligence MORE got a rating of 41 percent honest to 38 percent dishonest, Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenThe media have fallen out of love with Bernie, but have voters? Buttigieg surrogate on candidate's past consulting work: 'I don't think it matters' Steyer rolls out 5B plan to invest in historically black colleges MORE (D-Mass.) was 36 percent honest to 37 percent dishonest and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete ButtigiegPeter (Pete) Paul ButtigiegThe media have fallen out of love with Bernie, but have voters? Tulsi Gabbard reacts to Afghanistan report, calls out Pete Buttigieg's McKinsey work Buttigieg surrogate on candidate's past consulting work: 'I don't think it matters' MORE (D) was 30 percent honest to 26 percent dishonest. 

As the debate over "Medicare for All" rages in the primary, Sanders has been upfront about the fact that taxes will have to go up for the middle class to pay for his plan, but he argues middle-class people will save money overall once the elimination of premiums and deductibles is factored in. 

Warren, meanwhile, has taken heat for declining to directly answer the middle-class tax question. She has now said she will soon release a plan for how she will pay for Medicare for All. 

All of the candidates rate higher among only Democratic voters, but Sanders still comes out on top on honesty, at 75 percent for Sanders, 67 percent for Biden, 62 percent for Warren and 51 percent for Buttigieg. 

The poll also had a warning sign for Medicare for All. It found that just 31 percent of voters would support a plan “that would require the middle class to pay higher taxes, where the increased taxes were offset by overall savings on individual health care costs.”

Fifty-one percent of voters were opposed to such a plan.