Senate Democrats shy away from backing Elizabeth Warren's Medicare for All plan
- Democrats in the Senate are shying away from endorsing Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Medicare for All plan, casting uncertainty around whether her proposal could become law if she were to win the White House in 2020.
- The Hill reported that Senate Democrats are keeping the plan at arm's length for now, anxious that a universal healthcare system that virtually eliminates private insurance and tax hikes would prove unpopular with voters at the ballot box.
- Other Senate Democrats expressed doubt Warren's plan would be voted on at all instead favored moving forward with their own proposals to reform the nation's healthcare system, such as creating a public option.
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Democrats in the Senate are shying away from endorsing Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Medicare for All plan. the development casts uncertainty around whether her proposal could become law if she were to win the White House in 2020.
The Hill reported that Senate Democrats are keeping the plan at arm's length for now, anxious that a universal healthcare system that virtually eliminates private insurance and raises taxes would prove unpopular with voters at the ballot box.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey told the Hill he would likely hold off on backing the plan if it came to a vote. "Not as I understand it," he said.
Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat from Alabama with a tough re-election campaign next year, said he opposed it.
"I've said consistently that I am not for Medicare for All," Jones told the newspaper.
Other Senate Democrats expressed doubt Warren's plan would be voted on at all instead favored moving forward with their own proposals to reform the nation's healthcare system, such as creating a public option. That would allow people to buy a government-run insurance plan if they chose.
After taking fire from rivals on how she would pay for Medicare for All and whether it would raise taxes on the middle class, Warren rolled out her $20,5 trillion proposal to create a single-payer system that would cover every person in the United States last week. She promised it wouldn't raise "a single penny" of taxes on the middle class.
It instantly provoked another round of debate between the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic primary. Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders champion the system as a pathway towards drastically curbing the healthcare spending of Americans and eliminating their deductibles, co-pays and out-of-pocket spending.
Other moderate candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg instead favor reforming healthcare one step at a time and support creating a public option, which polls better with the American public. The Kaiser Family Foundation found in October that 73% of the public backs a public option compared to 51% for Medicare for All.
A Senate Medicare for All bill sponsored by Sanders has another 14 Democrats co-sponsoring it, but most have turned away from the bill. There are 47 Democrats in the Senate and 53 Republicans.
Democrats have an uphill road to take back the Senate as well. They need to capture at least three seats in next year's election and undo the filibuster that places a 60-vote threshold for most legislation. Even then, a few Senate Democrats swinging against a progressive bill would be enough to thwart its chances of passage.