In the WSJ/NBCpoll, half of respondents said they would be willing to pay more intaxes to provide universal health care coverage. (Photo:Shutterstock)

Health care will be the top issue for voters in the 2020election, according to a new poll.

Twenty-four percent of those surveyed in the WSJ/NBC poll said health care was their toppriority. Immigration came in second place, at 18 percent, whilejob creation came in third at 14 percent. In athree-way tie at 11 percent were climate change, national securityand the deficit. Guns and “other” came in last, at 5 and 6 percent,respectively.

The 2018 elections showed that the issue can open upopportunities for Democrats in traditionally unfriendly territory.Voters in solidly Republican Utah, Idaho and Nebraska voted toexpand Medicaid, rebuking GOP statelegislatures that had resisted implementing the Obamacareprogram.

Related: Do Medicare for All supporters really know whatthey're getting?

Many in the Democratic Party's more liberal wing believe thatthe nation is ready to embrace a radical restructuring of thehealth care system. The “Medicare for All” single-payer proposalpopularized by Bernie Sanders has now been endorsed by a number ofmainstream Democrats running for president, such as Cory Booker andKamala Harris.

In the WSJ/NBC poll, half said they would be willing to pay morein taxes to provide universal coverage. While that appears to bepromising for single-payer advocates, other polls have shown thatpeople's support for single-payer erodes significantly when toldthat they would give up their employer-sponsored coverage.

As a result, Booker, Harris and even liberal firebrand ElizabethWarren have made vague appeals to establishing the new systemalongside the existing system, even if that runs counter to thecentral premise of single-payer.

Support for the Affordable Care Act has risen since PresidentTrump took office, and support has increased in response to GOPefforts to kill the law. Roughly half of voters expressed supportfor the ACA in an April Gallup poll. Ongoing legal efforts by theTrump administration to gut the ACA, including provisionsprotecting patients from discrimination based on preexistingconditions, have made Republicans in Congress nervous.

Read more: 

• Why single-payer may be closer than you think (andwhat to do about it)
• Health care expenses causing anxiety forconsumers
• Donna Brazile on the seismic shifts in today'spolitical landscape