Elizabeth Warren broke with most Democrats on the primary debate stage Wednesday night in saying that she did not want to keep private insurers in business. Instead, she said, she was “with Bernie” Sanders in backing a proposal known as “Medicare for all,” which would enroll everyone in the U.S. in a government plan.
Warren and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio were the only candidates to raise their hands to affirm they would trade in private health insurance for a government-financed healthcare plan during the Democratic debate on MSNBC.
Warren argued that moving the roughly 67% of the population who are on private insurance onto a government plan was doable, and accused Democrats who didn’t support such a measure of being unwilling to push for it.
“What they are really telling you is that they just won’t fight for it,” she said. “Healthcare is a basic human right, and I will fight for human rights.”
Beto O’Rourke of Texas defended his position of letting private insurers stay in the game, but still advocated for extending the government’s role in healthcare. When he ran a failed campaign for the Senate he supported the Medicare for All Act, but he’s since changed his stance.
“How do you defend a system that’s not working?” De Blasio asked him, noting that the cost of deductibles and premiums was high.
O’Rourke replied that if people thought private insurance wasn’t working for them, then they could choose a government plan. He supports the Medicare for America Act, which would enroll people who don’t get coverage through work and people who are uninsured into a government plan, and let employers have the option of putting their workers onto a government plan. The plan would be similar to Medicare but more expansive, because Medicare excludes certain healthcare services now that are covered by private insurers and Obamacare plans.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said that he was also in favor of the Medicare for All Act, of which he is a co-sponsor, but indicated he was open to a more gradual expansion of government healthcare, whether an expansion of Obamacare or the addition of a public option to compete with private plans.
“I’m not going to wait,” he said.
But other candidates said they were worried about government becoming the sole payer of healthcare.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said she was concerned about removing people from private plans over the course of four years, as the Senate legislation calls for, and John Delaney, a former Maryland congressman, said Democrats “should be the party that keeps what’s working and fixes what’s broken.”
He warned hospitals would close if the government became the only payer of healthcare services, because Medicare pays roughly 40% less than what private insurers pay.
“Why do we have to stand for taking something away from people?” he asked.
