Elizabeth Warren facing skepticism over ‘Medicare For All’ on campaign trail

By | September 30, 2019

ROCK HILL, South Carolina — Elizabeth Warren’s embrace of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare For All” proposal is beginning to dog her on the campaign trail.

The senator from Massachusetts and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate’s catchphrase “I’ve got a plan for that” doesn’t apply to a healthcare platform since hers is largely modeled on the longstanding idea pushed by Sanders, a socialist running for the nomination on a far-left plank.

Warren has proudly declared during the opening debate over the summer in Miami she was “with Bernie” on his signature single-payer proposal.

But in two town halls in New Hampshire this week and then again on Saturday in Rock Hill, South Carolina, likely Democratic voters seized the microphone and requested more information on “Medicare For All” or pressed her on how the program would be funded, including whether it would result in a middle class tax hike.

When pushed by reporters on whether it was sustainable to keep dodging the potential of a tax increase, the fierce Wall Street critic and former consumer advocate said, “The system is not protecting middle-class families, and that’s what I hear for everybody who asks me questions.”

Warren, rising in the polls against former Vice President Joe Biden, said, “I think that’s the heart of what’s broken in our system and what we need to fix, and I’m going to talk about it every chance I get.”

Warren’s comments come after a voter on Friday in Hollis, New Hampshire, inquired whether the union-negotiated benefits she shares with her husband would be subjected to a “Cadillac tax,” a never-implemented Obamacare provision that would have slugged generous packages.

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“I want to get insurance that covers everybody. I don’t want to tax anybody. I’m not trying to make this harder on your family. I just want it to cover all the families,” the former public school teacher and Harvard Law School professor said.

Another voter, a retired physician, had earlier asked how Warren would pay for her “one-provider healthcare system.” She responded, “Big corporations and really wealthy people are going to see their costs go up.”

But the senator’s issues with “Medicare For All” also extend to coverage. On Wednesday, a Warren supporter in Keene, New Hampshire, hoped for more details on the multiple sclerosis disability definition. She acknowledged “‘Medicare For All’ is a framework,” the bill not addressing specifics related to his concern. On Saturday, she was prodded on its four-year transition period.

Healthcare has emerged as a wedge policy among White House hopefuls seeking the right to challenge President Trump next year, the topic dominating the primary debates so far. Kaiser Family Foundation polling summarized this month traced growing support for a national healthcare plan but little understanding regarding how “Medicare For All” would affect the insurance landscape. KFF also found most Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents would prefer to build on rather than replace Obamacare.

Healthcare